James Corden opened his talk show Monday night with an apology, saying his behavior that led to a brief ban from famed New York restaurant Balthazar last week was "wrong."
Corden, 44, apologized just days after he dismissed the drama surrounding the brief ban as "silly" and insisted he had done nothing wrong.
On Monday's episode of “The Late Late Show," however, Corden backtracked and acknowledged that he had made a "rude comment" to a server at Balthazar.
“Because I didn’t shout or scream, I didn’t get up out of my seat, I didn’t call anyone names or use derogatory language, I have been walking around thinking that I hadn’t done anything wrong, right? But the truth is I have. I made a rude comment, and it was wrong,” Corden said. “It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”
Corden said he had made the comment after his wife was repeatedly given "food she was allergic to," even though the restaurant was warned about her food allergy. He said that when the meal came back "wrong to the table the third time, in the heat of the moment, I made a sarcastic comment about cooking it myself."
"It is a comment I deeply regret," he said.
Balthazar barred Corden from dining at the renowned eatery after it accused him of "abusive" behavior toward staffers, owner Keith McNally said last week on Instagram. Hours later, McNally rescinded the ban, saying Corden had called him and “apologized profusely.”
Corden confirmed Monday that he had called McNally "straight away and I told him how upset I was ... that anybody was hurt by anything that I had done and anything that I had said."
"We had a good talk. He appreciated the call," Corden said. "I was happy that we got to clear the air, and I felt like we dealt with it privately. But by this point, the story was out there and, well, people were upset.”
He also addressed why he had waited a full week to apologize.
“Whenever these sorts of moments come my way, I like to adopt, you know, quite a British attitude of sort of, you know, 'keep calm and carry on,'” he stated. “Never complain, never explain. It’s very much my motto. But as my dad pointed out to me on Saturday, he said, ‘Son, well, you did complain, so you might need to explain.’ Look, when you make a mistake, you've got to take responsibility.”
Corden praised Balthazar, saying: "I love that restaurant. I love the staff there." He said he hopes he will be welcomed back next time he is in New York so he can make his apologies in person.
