James Corden Apologizes For Restaurant Incident On Late Late Show

After joking that he cut himself off from the internet and electronics over the past week and asking if he “missed any news,” Corden explained to his audience that he was banned and unbanned in record time from the New York restaurant Balthazar for comments he made to the staff. According to Corden, the comment about how he could have made the food himself came “in the heat of the moment” after his wife was served an order containing ingredients she was allergic to. “It is a comment I deeply regret. I understand the difficulties of being a server, I’ve worked shifts at restaurants for years, I have such respect for anyone who does that job,” Corden said on the show. “I didn’t shout or scream. I didn’t get up out of my seat. I didn’t call anyone names or use derogatory language. I have been walking around thinking that I hadn’t done anything wrong, right? But the truth is I have. I made a rude comment, and it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”

The incident, which occurred last week while “The Late Late Show” was on a week off, was made public by the owner Keith McNally. In a post on his Instagram on October 18, McNally alleged two incidents where Corden yelled and berated his servers in an overly aggressive manner, one in October. The October incident, the one Corden apologized for, saw Corden’s wife served an “egg yolk omelette.” Although McNally posted later that day that Corden’s ban was lifted after the comedian called and apologized directly, Corden gave an interview in the New York Times a few days later where he called the situation “silly” and claimed he “hadn’t done anything wrong on any level,” though he stated plans to discuss the incident on his talk show. In response, McNally posted that while he had “no wish to kick a man when he’s down,” if Corden “wants to retrieve the respect he had from all his fans (all 4 of them) before this incident, then he should at least admit he did wrong.” During his monologue, Corden promised to apologize in person to the staff of the restaurant should he ever be allowed back and explained why he waited to address the situation in public, attributing it to his “British attitude.” “Whenever these sorts of moments come my way, I like to adopt quite a British attitude,” Corden said. “Never complain, never explain. It’s very much my motto. But as my dad pointed out to me on Saturday, he said, ‘Son, you did complain. So you might need to explain.’ Look, when you make a mistake, you have to take responsibility.” The restaurant controversy comes while Corden enters the final few months of his time on “The Late Late Show.” The Brit is set to leave his post as the talk show’s host sometime in the middle of next year. CBS has not yet announced a successor to replace him. Watch the whole monologue below.