James Corden was on top of the world at one point in his career.
Corden’s successes span far and wide as an actor, comedian, singer and presenter.
He starred in movie musical adaptions alongside heavyweights of the industry, like Judi Dench and Meryl Streep.
His talk show, The Late Late Show with James Corden, has been on air since 2015.
He’s also hosted several of the world’s most-watched awards shows, including the Brit Awards, the Tonys and the Grammys.
But recent accounts of the Brit’s poor behaviour are overshadowing Corden’s stellar career.
Corden is addressing each allegation as it comes his way. But as soon as he swats away one story about his poor behaviour, another takes its place.
‘Abusive customer’
Mumblings about Corden first hit the press two weeks ago when Keith McNally, owner of New York celebrity hotspot Balthazar, said Corden was extremely unpleasant towards his staff on two occasions.
“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,” McNally wrote in an Instagram post. He banned Corden from his establishment.
McNally’s blurry Instagram post quickly went viral, with Corden eventually calling the owner to apologise.
McNally said he had decided to remove the ban, given Corden’s apology.
But it appears Balthazar and Corden are no longer on good terms, with McNally announcing he has “given up” on the comedian “for good”.
He got wind of an interview Corden had done for the The Times, where he seemingly denied any wrongdoing.
“I never screamed at anyone, I didn’t shout, didn’t call anyone a name or swear or use derogatory language … How is it remotely a thing? And that be OK? And now it’s fact, and that’s that,” Corden said in the profile.
“When that person who posted the story wasn’t even there. Just so odd.”
The Balthazar owner didn’t take kindly to Corden’s change of heart, releasing what he said would be his final statement on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to over-egg the pudding, but in Friday’s London Times Corden flip-flopped and told a massive lie AGAIN,” he wrote.
“In the scheme of things my opinion means nothing, but after Friday’s interview and his fraudulent confessional, I’ve given up on James Corden. For Good.”
Copy cat
Also on Wednesday, the internet came to the collective realisation that Corden had seemingly ripped a joke from fellow comedian Ricky Gervais.
When discussing Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover on Monday, Corden told a joke that was almost identical to one told by Gervais in his 2018 standup special, Humanity.
Gervais called out the similarities in a tweet – which he has since deleted, saying he “felt sorry” for Corden.
Corden eventually conceded that he was in the wrong in a tweet posted from the Late Late Show account.
“Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him,” he wrote.
“It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix. J x.”
To give Corden the benefit of the doubt, one of his writers could be to blame.
The gaffe adds another chapter to the feud between Corden and Gervais, which has been brewing for years.
Gervais, for example, called Corden a “fat pussy” on stage at the 2020 Golden Globes.
Nothing to lose
If this whole ‘problematic talk show host’ scenario sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
Just 12 months ago, we were scrutinising every move made by Ellen DeGeneres, who was drowning in allegations about her diva-like behaviour.
There was also the issue of alleged discriminatory behaviour by her talk show’s production team.
Amid the enduring scandal, Degeneres lost her talk show, which had been on air for 18 years.
But unlike DeGeneres, perhaps luckily, Corden has pulled the plug on his talk show.
Corden says the final season of The Late Late Show with James Corden will film in September.
Corden says he is keen to take a more behind-the-scenes role.
But while his show continues, a Reddit thread created by Corden’s team intended for interaction with fans has become somewhat of a ‘town square’ for acquaintances and former fans to share their own Corden stories.
Corden and his team answered only a handful of questions submitted by Redditors, before abandoning it altogether.
Among the viral stories are accounts of Corden ignoring his wife and crying child on a long-haul flight.
Another told of the time Corden allegedly sat down with pop star Harry Styles for dinner in London, and was a “massively entitled c—” who “treated the wait staff like s—“.
And others have reposted infamous clips of Corden, like the time he and Patrick Stewart bickered onstage at an awards show.
So while Corden may have partially patched things up with Balthazar and Ricky Gervais, don’t be too surprised if you see James Corden’s name in the headlines, for all the wrong reasons, again in the future.
