James Corden has spoken out after attracting controversy due to his behaviour towards staff at a New York restaurant.
The 44-year-old actor and comedian said it was "never my intention" to upset the staff at Balthazar in Manhattan. He also admitted to being "ungracious" during the incident which saw him banned from the restaurant.
He addressed the controversy during the latest episode of his talk show The Late Late Show where he admits to have been "walking around thinking that I haven't done anything wrong". Last week, Corden was briefly banned from the restaurant after owner Keith McNally claimed he was "extremely nasty" to staff on two separate occasions.
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Speaking about the claims McNally made on social media, Corden said his comments had been "in the heat of the moment" but vowed he would "apologise in person" to the staff at Balthazar. He added: "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’ve been walking around thinking that I haven’t done anything wrong.
“But the truth is I have made a rude, rude comment. And it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment, it was ungracious to the server.” Corden recalled that after seeing McNally's post, he "immediately" contacted him to "tell him how upset I was".
"(I told him) how upset I was that anybody was hurt by anything that I had done and anything that I had said and we had a good talk,” he said.
“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 more people were upset.”
After showing the tweets to his audience, he continued: "I get it. I totally understand. I understand everybody getting upset and I accept everybody’s opinion.
“I also hate, as I said to the owner that day, that I’ve ever upset anybody ever.
“It was never my intention. It just wasn’t. I love that restaurant. I love the staff there.
“I hope I’m allowed in again one day so when I’m back in New York I can go there and apologise in person, which is something I will absolutely do.”
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