Two New York Restaurant Owners Defended James Corden And Balthazar’s Owner Feels Conflicted About Calling Him Out
New York restaurateur Keith McNally barely got to enjoy a single day being the internet’s hero before he squandered all the goodwill he earned by calling James Corden a “tiny cretin of a man” and banning him from his popular New York City restaurant Balthazar for being a raging asshole to his staff. Less than 24 hours after his post on Instagram, in which he detailed a number of abuses James had inflicted on his servers, Keith reversed his ban after James called him personally to apologize. Keith now says he “feels sorry for him,” presumably because he feels guilty for the torrent of pent up schadenfreude that rained down on that man like a monsoon of cats and cockaroaches.
And while James may be quick to anger, his publicist is quicker and apparently got on the horn to every restaurant in the city in the time it took for James to grab one of his Razzie Awards off his desk and hurl it across the room. TMZ reports that two other New York restaurateurs have assured the public that James is actually a pussy cat and is welcome in their restaurants anytime. As if that wasn’t part of the problem to begin with. I knew that hair he pulled out of his finished meal was CGI! Here’s Keith’s wishy-washy post about “feeling strange” for putting James on blast.
Now, Keith, you have a young daughter there who probably knows how the internet works. Maybe consult her first on the machinations of virality next time before opening a Bustopher Jones-sized vat of catnip and liberally sprinkling it all over Instagram. For the sake of the staff at Balthazar, I hope James knows better than to risk it all again for an egg yolk omelet because there will DEFINITELY be some white stuff in there next time. Hopefully, the staffs at Stratis Morfogen and Todd English’s restaurants are in agreement with their bosses that James is “absolutely lovely” because he’s been extended carte blanche at their establishments. TMZ reports:
Stratis Morfogen has opened 40 restaurants over the years in New York, and he says James is one of the most pleasant and funny guys he’s ever served — to the point where Stratis says he can’t even imagine James being mean.
When Stratis hosted and catered a 2018 post-Grammys event for Bruno Mars and Atlantic Records at his Brooklyn Chop House restaurant, he says James was there singing songs with bartenders and yukking it up with staffers at the bar. He also notes James was a gracious tipper.
James is also being defended by famed restaurateur Todd English … who tells us every time he’s served Corden, the comedian’s been “absolutely lovely” to everyone in the joint.
Now I kind of want to go to Brooklyn Chop House, and instead of asking to speak to the manager like James, I would like to speak to the bartenders and staff who were forced to play Bar Back Karaoke against their will.
Pic: Seth Browarnik/startraksphoto.com