Balthazar restaurant owner U-turns on James Corden ban and claims TV host ‘apologised profusely’

Restaurateur Keith McNally says ‘all is forgiven’

James Corden is no longer banned from a New York restaurant, its owner has said.

Keith McNally, proprietor of Manhattan restaurant Balthazar, U-turned on his stance after initially accusing the comedian of “abusive” behaviour towards his staff.

The restaurateur shared a second photo of Corden in an update on Instagram on Monday night (17 October) and claimed: “James Corden just called me and apologised profusely. Having f***ed up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances.”

He joked: “So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for nine months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar. No, of course not.

“But anyone magnanimous enough to apologise to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar.

“All is forgiven,” McNally added.

The business owner’s initial post about Corden claimed that the Late Late Show host had treated staff at Balthazar in NYC poorly and described him as “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago”.

He included two examples, allegedly from the restaurant manager’s reports, claiming Corden was “extremely nasty” and “began yelling like crazy” at separate servers.

The Independent has contacted Corden’s representative for comment.

McNally, who has been referred to by the New York Times as “The Restaurateur Who Invented Downtown, has previously made controversial claims through his Instagram page.

Since 2020, he has repeatedly launched online attacks on British restaurant critic Marina O’Loughlin, who writes anonymously, and falsely “outed” her with a photograph of academic Dr Margo Maine.

Earlier this year, he criticised O’Loughlin for naming Pine, a restaurant in Northumberland, the “restaurant of the year” because it was only January.

O’Loughlin hit back in the comments under his post and wrote: “Ach, go away. With your sad obsession with me, your rag-rolled walls and overpriced Café Rouges, frozen frites and desperate staff morale, you’re the last person I’d listen to about restaurants.”