‘I Haven’t Done Anything Wrong’: James Corden Bristles When NYT Reporter Makes Interview All About the Omelette

Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for The New Yorker

Comedian James Corden could not escape questions about the allegedly abusive behavior that got him dubbed a “tiny cretin of a man” by New York restaurateur Kevin McNally while promoting his new series in a New York Times interview.

Discussing his miniseries Mammals with Times reporter Dave Itzkoff, Corden did not address any specific instances of his alleged behavior to wait staff, but he did dismiss the controversy as “silly” and informed Itzkoff it was beneath his publication to cover it.

McNally described Corden as the “most abusive” customer to his staff, mentioning two instances, one in which Corden demanded free drinks after finding a hair in his meal and another in which he yelled after discovering his wife’s egg yolk omelette had “a little bit of egg white.” The restaurateur has since lifted a full-on ban of Corden after the late night host apologized.

While meeting with Itzkoff, Corden noted that another woman near them at a restaurant complained about her eggs.

“Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It’s insane,” the comedian, who will soon be leaving as host of The Late Late Show, said.

The Times interview also includes highlights from a book by Corden in which the comedian calls some of his own behavior early in his career to task. At a 2008 awards show, for instance, Corden’s show Gavin & Stacey walked away with an award, but Corden jumped onstage and complained about the fact that it wasn’t up for a bigger award.

“I can see why and how it must have looked — ungracious, ungrateful and brattish,” he wrote.

Corden insisted he feels “zen” about the backlash over McNally’s post and suggested he may discuss the controversy on Monday’s Late Late Show.

“I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level. So why would I ever cancel this? I was there. I get it. I feel so zen about the whole thing. Because I think it’s so silly. I just think it’s beneath all of us. It’s beneath you. It’s certainly beneath your publication,” he told Itzkoff.

Corden also claimed the backlash against him has been amplified by the media and only relates back to some people on social media platforms like Twitter.

“If I lived on Twitter, Hillary Clinton is the president of the United States and Jeremy Corbyn won by a landslide,” Corden said.