Balthazar's owner says he 'feels really sorry' for James Corden after exposing him as rudest guest

The restaurant owner who slammed James Corden as ‘the most abusive customer’ he’s ever encountered has admitted he feels ‘really sorry’ for the star after the revelations went viral. 

Keith McNally, who owns Balthazar in New York, recently outed Corden’s allegedly poor behaviour on social media, having described him as a ‘tiny cretin of a man’. 

He wrote on Instagram: "James Corden is a hugely 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. 

“I don't often 86 a customer […] today I 86'd Corden. It did not make me laugh.” 

The restaurateur went on to claim there were two incidents where Corden displayed less than appropriate behaviour towards staff. 

James Moy/Alamy Stock Photo

McNally later revealed Corden had since phoned him up and ‘apologized profusely’, saying: “Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. So come back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden. All is forgiven.” 

Now McNally has said he feels ‘really sorry’ for the late-night talk show host, but doubled down on his previous comments by saying he was still ‘definitely abusive’ to Balthazar staff. 

Sharing a photo of himself with his daughter and her best friend at the restaurant that evening, he said: “Feeling strange about the James Corden thing. On the one hand, he was definitely abusive to my staff, on the other hand, I feel really sorry for him right now.

"Like most cowards I want it both ways. F**k it, I’m going to get drunk.” 

The restaurant owner had previously shared two manager’s reports outlining incidents at Balthazar to illustrate his issue with Corden.

One, from June, said: “After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic. Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said: ‘Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.’” 

In the second incident, after sending a dish back, it was mistakenly returned with fries instead of salad. 

The report reads: "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!'" 

The report added that he was given a glass of champagne for compensation; however, the waiter remained ‘very shaken’ from the ordeal. 

UNILAD has reached out to a James Corden representative for further comment.

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