James Corden says it’s ‘beneath’ him to care about NYC restaurant drama: ‘I did nothing wrong’

James Corden says it’s “beneath” him to care about claims he was so abusive to staff at a New York restaurant that he was banned.

James Corden has insisted he “did nothing wrong” after the owner of a famed New York City restaurant publicly claimed he was the “most abusive customer” to dine at the establishment in its 25-year history.

The Late Late Show has since addressed the viral scandal – in which restaurateur Keith Mr McNally, 71, temporarily banned him from Balthazar for being “abusive” to staff and labelled Corden a “tiny cretin of a man”.

“I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level,” the 44-year-old entertainer told the New York Times in an article.

“So why would I ever cancel this (interview)?

“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.”

Stream more entertainment news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

James Corden insists he “did nothing wrong” in response to claims he was rude to staff at a restaurant in NYC. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images.

Mr McNally responded to Corden’s latest comments about the alleged incident in another Instagram post on Friday, local time.

“When James Corden said in yesterday’s NY Times that he hadn’t done ‘anything wrong, on any level’, was he joking? Or was he denying being abusive to my servers?” Mr McNally wrote.

“Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didn’t do it. Although I didn’t witness the incident, lots of my restaurant’s floor staff did. They had nothing to gain by lying. Corden did.”

Mr McNally then extended an offer to the multi-millionaire.

“I wish James Corden would live up to his Almighty initials and come clean,” he continued.

“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 apologises to the 2 servers he insulted, I’ll let him eat for free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.”

In his interview with The New York Times, Corden also claimed he hadn’t “really read” Mr McNally’s initial explosive comments about him on social media.

“I think I’m probably going to have to talk about it on Monday’s show,” Corden said.

“My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I’ll probably have to talk about it.”

The British TV star was responding to a scathing Instagram post published by Mr McNally earlier in the week.

“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,” Mr McNally wrote.

The restaurateur first claimed Corden demanded freebies and threatened the eatery with a bad review after finding a strand of hair in his food back in June.

“After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G, who was very apologetic,” he wrote alongside a snap of the comedian.

“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 (won’t) write any nasty reviews in Yelp or anything like that.’”

In another incident that allegedly took place on October 9, Mr McNally claimed that Corden lashed out at his staff after the dish his wife, Julia Carey, ordered was not prepared in the way she had requested.

“Mr Corden’s wife ordered an egg yolk omelette with gruyere cheese and salad. A few minutes after they received the food, James called their server, M.K and told her there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk. M.K informed the floor manager, G. The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad,” the post continued.

“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!’”

Mr McNally claimed the server was “very apologetic” and brought the manager over who gave the couple free glasses of champagne to ease tensions. The manager reported that Corden was pleasant to him but “nasty” to the server.

“I don’t often 86 a customer, (but) today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh,” Mr McNally wrote at the end of the post.

The term “86” is culinary slang that refers to nixing unavailable menu items or, in this case, customers who are no longer welcome.

The public naming and shaming of the star quickly went viral and reportedly prompted Corden to reach out to Mr McNally personally, according to the restaurant owner.

Mr McNally said Corden called him to apologise “profusely” for his behaviour, which led him to revoke the ban.

But whether or not the ban will be reinstated now that Corden appears to be denying that remains to be seen.

Originally published as James Corden says it’s ‘beneath’ him to care about NYC restaurant drama: ‘I did nothing wrong’