NEW YORK — The owner of a famed restaurant in New York City banned comedian James Corden for berating employees — but reversed the ban the next day after saying the late night host apologized.
Balthazar owner Keith McNally said in a Monday Instagram post that Corden was a "gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man" and "the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago."
McNally detailed two incidents with the "Late Late Show" host. He said in June, Corden told a manager to comp his party's drinks over a hair found in his meal after finishing his main course. McNally alleged that Corden was "extremely nasty" to the manager.
The second strike came earlier this month. McNally said Corden asked for his wife's egg yolk omelet to be remade because there was "a little bit of egg white" mixed in. The dish was remade but sent out with the wrong side.
"That's when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: 'You can't do your job! You can't do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!'" McNally wrote.
A manager gave the party free glasses of champagne and things calmed down, but McNally said the server was "shaken."
Corden's ban, however, turned out to last less than 10 hours. "James Corden just called me and apologized profusely," McNally said in a subsequent post. The restauranteur said he believes in second chances.
"Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere," McNally wrote. "Especially Balthazar."
Corden hadn't said anything publicly about the debacle as of Tuesday morning, and representatives for the comedian did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Washington Post, CBS News and other outlets.
