James Corden reportedly apologised to the restaurant owner in a phone call on Monday (Picture: Getty Images)
The restaurant owner who banned James Corden from his eatery has admitted to ‘feeling strange’ about accusing the star of treating his staff poorly.
Keith McNally, owner of Balthazar restaurant in Soho, claimed that Corden, 44, was ‘extremely nasty’ towards his employees after they accidentally mixed-up the comedian’s food order.
According to McNally, the Late Late Show host demanded two rounds of free drinks while on another occasion, the star was allegedly rude to staff after his wife Julia Carey’s omelette was cooked wrong.
Corden reportedly spoke to McNally in a phone call where he allegedly apologised for his behaviour, prompting the restaurateur to lift the ban.
However, McNally now has sympathy for the Gavin & Stacey actor in light of the criticism that has followed his claims.
The businessman shared a photo of himself posing with his daughter Alice and her best friend at Balthazar on Tuesday, and wrote in the Instagram caption: ‘Feeling strange about the James Corden thing.
Keith McNally now ‘feels strange’ about publicly accusing Corden (Picture: Keith McNally/Instagram)
Corden is said to have become upset when his wife Julia Carey’s omelette wasn’t cooked to her liking (Picture: Getty Images)
‘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.’
He then quipped: ‘F**k it, I’m going to get drunk.’
Corden is yet to speak out after McNally shared details of the alleged incidents on social media.
In his original post, the restaurant owner wrote: ‘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.
‘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”.’
Corden is yet to speak out about the allegations (Picture: Getty Images)
McNally returned to social media later that day to claim he’d had a phone call with the Cats actor who expressed remorse for his alleged behaviour.
‘James Corden just called me and apologized profusely,’ McNally wrote in an Instagram post. ‘Having f****d up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances. So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar.
‘No, of course not. But….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. Xx.’
Metro.co.uk has reached out to reps for James Corden for comment.
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Keith McNally still stands by his version of events.