Just 48 hours after slamming talk show host James Corden as a “tiny cretin of a man,” NYC restaurant owner Keith McNally said he feels “strange” about exposing the talk show host.
Keith McNally, who owns Balthazar in Manhattan, said he can’t help but “feel really sorry” for the British actor after he received a groveling apology from him over the phone.
Taking to Instagram Tuesday night, McNally shared a snap of him with his daughter Alice and her pal dining at his fancy NYC hotspot.
“Feeling strange about the James Corden thing,” McNally penned. “On the one hand, he was definitely abusive to my staff, on the other hand, I feel really sorry for him right now.”
“Like most cowards I want it both ways. F–k it, I’m going to get drunk,” he added.
On Monday, the outspoken restaurant owner accused “The Late Late Show” host of boorish behavior — who initially banned him from dining there ever again.
“[He’s] the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago,” said Keith McNally in a scathing Instagram post on Monday.
McNally accused Corden, who has admitted to having anger issues in the past, of treating his servers poorly by demanding free items and yelling at them.
“I don’t often 86 a customer, to today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh,” he wrote in part.
But hours after exposing the “Gavin & Stacey” actor across social media, McNally revealed that Corden called him to apologize.
“James Corden just called me and apologized profusely,” McNally wrote on Instagram on Monday night. “Having f–ked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances.”
For that, McNally wrote, Corden was welcome back to the establishment, “All is forgiven.”
“Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar,” he added.
In 2020, Corden revealed his struggle with anger that began during his time on the hit UK series “Gavin & Stacey” in the late 2000s. He attributed his bad behavior to “that first flush of fame” in a New Yorker interview.
“I started to behave like a brat that I just don’t think I am,” he said.