James Corden doesn’t care if you think he’s an a**hole, which is just the sort of thing you’d expect to hear from a guy who reportedly acts like a monster to the people who wait on him. The Late Late Show host sat down to breakfast (LOL) for a weirdly-timed interview with The New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff with the purpose of talking about Mammals, the new Amazon Prime series that Corden executive produced and stars in — playing a chef, of all things. But Itzkoff could hardly ignore the giant egg-yolk omelette in the room, which Corden clearly did not want to rehash. According to the intrepid reporter, things got awkward.
When Itzkoff mentioned that he was surprised Corden hadn’t wanted to cancel the sit-down, the late-night host seemed perplexed as to why he would even consider that — and why they were even still talking about him being banned (then un-banned) from dining at perennial New York City brunch spot Balthazar (and its sister restaurants) after owner Keith McNally called him out on Instagram for apparently being a total wanker.
“I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level,” Corden said. “So why would I ever cancel this [interview]?” While it’s only natural that the American public would be interested to hear that the guy they watch on TV sometimes might be a total jerk in real life, Corden — totally dismissing why treating service industry workers like pieces of sh*t might rub people the wrong way — seemed to think it was more bizarre that he was even still talking about the incident… despite the fact that it all transpired (at least on social media) just days before their chat.
“I was there,” Corden said. “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.” So… add “New York Times reporters” to the list of people Corden doesn’t seem to have much respect for (alongside flight attendants, and his wife).
Ultimately, Corden suspiciously claimed that he himself didn’t read much about the incident, and doesn’t think most Americans really cared. But he admitted that he’ll likely address it on his own show. “I think I’m probably going to have to talk about it on Monday’s show,” he said. “My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I’ll probably have to talk about it.” Based on what many who have interacted with the “Carpool Karaoke” creator say, he needs to work on the latter part of that maxim.
You can read the full interview here.
(Via The New York Times)