No Egg-scape: James Corden Finally Ends NYC Restaurant Ban Discourse on ‘Late Late Show’

Despite being rescinded within hours of owner and restauranteur Keith McNally (a man who’s garnered no shortage of controversies himself) publicly blasting James Corden on Instagram, the conversation around the comedian’s brief ban from the notable New York City restaurant Balthazar has dragged on for days. Now, the Late Late Show host has directly addressed the incident and explained his side of the story, finally freeing us from ever having to read about him and his egg yolk omelette ever again.

“Because I didn’t shout or scream, I didn’t get out of my seat, I didn’t call anyone names or use derogatory language, I’ve been walking around thinking I haven’t done anything wrong,” Corden told the Late Late Show audience on Monday. “But the truth is that I have. I made a rude comment, and it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”

The whole scrambled incident cracked open earlier last week when McNally claimed the host was “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.” The comment in question, according to Corden, was that he could have made the meal himself after having to send back an order three times, one of which was because it contained a food his wife had noted to staff that she was allergic to. McNally’s version of the story involved some stray egg whites in the egg yolk omelette and an accidental side of home fries instead of salad. 

“He Instagrammed that I was banned from his restaurant for two offenses. One was a meal that I think was back in 2014 when I sent a dish back that had hair in it, and the other was last week,” Corden explained. “So when I read this post, I immediately got ahold of his phone number, I called him straight away, and I told him how upset I was that anybody was hurt by anything that I had done or anything that I had said.”

Not long after their conversation, McNally rescinded the band, stating in a follow-up post that Corden had called and “apologized profusely.” McNally continued, “Having fucked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances… anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere.” 

But just because the ban was lifted in a matter of hours didn’t save Corden from enduring a few questions about it during a not-so-conveniently timed interview with The New York Times to promote his new TV show Mammals. Corden reportedly tried dodging questions about the alleged incident, insisting he hadn’t “read anything.”

“I think I’m probably going to have to talk about it on Monday’s show,” he said. “My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I’ll probably have to talk about it.”

Elsewhere he stated, “I haven’t done anything wrong on any level. So why would I ever cancel this? I was there. I get it. I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it’s so silly. I just think it’s beneath all of us. It’s beneath you. It’s certainly beneath your publication.”

Corden was also asked about the social media conversation McNally’s initial post sparked, which touched on other past allegations of rude public behavior. (Corden, for his part, acknowledged in his 2011 memoir that he often behaved poorly amid the wild success of his breakthrough British sitcom, Gavin and Stacey, in the late 2000s). The comedian, however, continued to rebuff the topic, saying, “it feels like such a silly thing to talk about” and insisting that social media was not the real world.

The closest Corden came to acknowledging the egg-cident was when — go figure — another customer at the restaurant the interview was taking place at complained to a waiter about her own egg dish.

“Happens every day,” Corden said. “It’s happening in 55,000 restaurants as we speak. It’s always about eggs… Can you imagine now if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It’s insane.”

Not surprising at all, McNally inevitably chimed in with a response to Corden’s interview, clearly piqued by the comedian’s insistence that he hadn’t done “anything wrong, on any level.” “[W]as he joking?” McNally wondered. “Or was he denying being abusive to my servers? Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: He didn’t do it.”

McNally went on to argue that his staff had “nothing to gain by lying,” but “Corden did.” He then offered up a tantalizing deal to Corden, while simultaneously roasting him: “If the supremely talented actor 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. If he goes one step further and apologizes to the 2 servers he insulted, I’ll let him eat for free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.”

This story was updated 10/25/22 at 2:29 p.m. ET with Corden’s comments on the Late Late Show.

From Rolling Stone US.