James Corden kicked off Monday’s episode of The Late Late Show with a lengthy monologue about the restaurant drama that’s made headlines. James, 44, addressed how he was banned (and subsequently unbanned) from New York’s Balthazar by owner Keith McNally for his alleged bad behavior as a customer. The British comedian explained that he “made a sarcastic comment” about cooking the food himself, after the staff got his order wrong three times and served his wife, Julia Carey, food that “she was allergic to.”
“It is a comment I deeply regret,” James explained on his talk show. “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. It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”
James revealed that he called Keith McNally after the restauranteur exposed James’ behavior on Instagram and banned him from Balthazar. “I told him how upset I was that anybody was hurt by anything that I had done and anything that I had said,” James shared. “We had a good talk. He appreciated the call. 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 people were upset.”
Before concluding his monologue, the Carpool Karaoke host acknowledged that he “upset” people which was “never my intention.” James added, “I love that restaurant. I hope I’m allowed in again one day so I can go there and apologize in person which is something I will absolutely do.” James’ apology came after Keith called him a “cretin of a man” for being “the most abusive customer” in the restaurant’s 25-year history. James first addressed the controversy in a New York Times profile, where he claimed he hadn’t “done anything wrong, on any level,” and that the whole situation was “silly.”
While James was initially banned from Balthazar, the Cats actor’s phone call to Keith made the restaurant owner reverse his decision. “Having f**ked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances,” Keith wrote in a follow-up post on Instagram. “Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar.”