The Late Late Show returned from a brief hiatus Monday night, and host James Corden wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room: his (now-reversed) ban from New York restaurant Balthazar.
Corden was publicly banned from the upscale French restaurant by owner Keith McNally last week in an Instagram post, detailing two separate incidents where the late-night host was allegedly rude to waitstaff—leading McNally to refer to Corden as “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.”
Though Corden initially claimed innocence in the alleged incidents, the comedian took to his Late Late opening monologue to offer a public apology.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
The soon-to-be former host explained that he made the comments “in the heat of the moment” when his table was accidentally served a dish containing an ingredient that his wife is allergic to, and said he quickly called up McNally to apologize personally.
“I called him straight away and I told him how upset I was that anybody was hurt by anything that I had said. We had a good talk. He appreciated the call. I was happy that we got to clear the air and I felt like we dealt with it privately,” he said. After he “apologized profusely,” McNally reversed the ban.
“But by this point, the story was out there. People were upset,” Corden added.
Over Forty-Thousand Wicked Fans Sign Petition to Keep James Corden Out of the Movie
Corden Explains What Took Him So Long to Speak Up
While Corden briefly addressed the controversy while speaking to The New York Times—calling the whole ordeal “silly” and “insane” while insisting he hadn’t done anything wrong “on any level”—he says it took some fatherly advice to realize he was in the wrong.
“Look, when you make a mistake, you have to take responsibility,” the comedian added, noting that he would love to return to Balthazar to apologize in person whenever he returns to New York.
This story comes to us from Variety.
