It always seems the more being an 'everyday nice guy or gal' is part of a celebrity's persona, the less nice they turn out to be in real life, doesn't it?
Case in point: actor, comedian and host of the The Late Late Show, James Corden, was recently banned from iconic NYC spot Balthazar by its famous chef, Keith McNally, for being abusive to waitstaff.
McNally announced that he's since lifted the ban after Corden contacted him and "apologized profusely" for his behavior, which McNally had documented and shared on social media.
But that hasn't done much to stop the outpouring of stories from people on social media who have either experienced or witnessed Corden's bad behavior firsthand.
It all began when McNally posted his tales of Corden's Balthazar tantrums to Instagram yesterday.
McNally minced no words in calling out Corden. He 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."
He went on to detail incidents of Corden berating waitstaff and threatening to leave bad reviews unless he was given freebies on more than one occasion.
The stories instantly went viral, and before long, Corden reached out to McNally to apologize. McNally then posted a more friendly message to Corden in a subsequent Instagram post:
"James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having fu*ked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances..."
"...[A]nyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar."
But ultimately, the damage was already done. After McNally's post went viral, social media filled up with stories of Corden's bad behavior, including one in which he refused to help his wife with their baby during a flight and drowned out its crying with noise-canceling headphones.
And of course, the discourse has spawned no shortage of jokes and memes.
As for McNally, he's no angel himself--he has run into controversy on social media on several occasions for defending Woody Allen and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. In addition to Balthazar, he also own NYC mainstays Pastis and Minetta Tavern.
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