Keith McNally admits his viral post exposing Corden’s behavior at Balthazar was driven more by a desire for social media fame than defending staff in an exclusive excerpt from his new memoir, I Regret Almost Everything, obtained by PEOPLE
McNally recounts how Corden called him repeatedly asking for the post’s removal, ultimately apologizing after the backlash gained momentum online
McNally confesses he never witnessed the incident firsthand and acknowledges his post may have unfairly damaged Corden’s reputation while boosting his own online following
Restaurateur Keith McNally is doubling down on his infamous decision to once ban actor James Corden from celebrity hotspot Balthazar years later — but not in the way you might think.
In an exclusive audio excerpt obtained by PEOPLE from McNally’s debut memoir, I Regret Almost Everything, out May 6, the New York City restaurateur details the October 2022 incident in which he went viral on Instagram after alleging that Corden’s “obnoxious” behavior inside the restaurant “crossed the line” when he allegedly insulted a server to the point that “she broke down and cried.”
Related: James Corden Says His Wife’s Food Allergy was Reason for His ‘Rude Comment’ at NYC Restaurant
In the audio excerpt, narrated by Academy Award-nominated actor Richard E. Grant, McNally recalls struggling at the time to gain a solid footing on social media — particularly Instagram — until James Corden entered Balthazar.
Calling the actor a “gift from heaven,” the Balthazar owner reveals that his reason for blasting Corden on Instagram wasn’t solely out of loyalty to servers and restaurant workers everywhere (which he had previously claimed in an interview with Page Six) – it was to gain notoriety on social media and to ultimately, comically, gain Instagram followers.
Paul Frangipane/Bloomberg via Getty
The infamous Balthazar restaurant in New York
“By exposing Corden’s abuse, it appeared as though I was defending a principle, when all I was doing was seeking the approval of my young Balthazar staff,” McNally says cheekily.
The social media post in question first made headlines in October 2022 when McNally recounted two separate, contentious interactions between Corden and Balthazar staff in which McNally likened Corden to a “tiny Cretin of a man” and called him the “most abusive customer” on Instagram before telling his followers that the actor had been 86’ed from the establishment completely.
After the Corden post began to go viral, McNally recalls in the memoir, his Instagram follower count began to increase by the tens of thousands, making him feel as if he “hit the jackpot” and ultimately forcing Corden’s hand into apologizing in an attempt to save face.
“Corden called me four times the day the post came out, each time asking me to please delete it. On the last call he sounded desperate,” McNally says. “Relishing my hold over someone so famous, I told him I wouldn’t delete it. Like a little dictator, I was intoxicated with the power I’d received.”
Related: James Corden Says His Wife’s Food Allergy was Reason for His ‘Rude Comment’ at NYC Restaurant
But in the excerpt, McNally admits (as many had questioned and others presumed) that he never actually saw Corden acting out in either of the incidents he blasted him for, but rather that he was posting on behalf of what he had been told by his staff.
“For someone who’s hyperconscious of humiliation since suffering a stroke, it now seems monstrous that I didn’t consider the humiliation I was subjecting Corden to,” McNally admits humbly in the book. “Especially as I hadn’t personally seen the incident I so vividly described on Instagram.”
The restaurateur then takes a wider-lensed look at the power of social media and the ease at which misinformation can spread.
Related: James Corden Says It Was ‘Never My Intention’ to Upset Restaurant Staff, Vows to Apologize in Person
Blasting an uniformed opinion to a mass digital audience can in turn have real life consequences, he muses, noting that social media and its reach “strengthens allegations and weakens facts” and admits that he probably “stained” Corden’s career through his initial Instagram post.
“I’m not suggesting Corden didn’t deserve the backlash from my post. (The b—— probably did.) I’m just saying I didn’t see the incident I wrote about that, to some degree, jeopardized his career,” McNally admits.
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Keith McNally Dines Inside Balthazar
He eventually redacted Corden’s ban days later in another Instagram post after Corden publicly addressed and apologized for the incident during a monologue on The Late Late Show.
“In the past, I’ve behaved much worse than Corden, but wasn’t man enough to apologize,” McNally penned on the social media account.
He joked, “For this reason, I’m going to lift the ban on Corden and impose one on myself instead.”
Representatives for Corden did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Listen to the full excerpt below:
Excerpted from I Regret Almost Everything, copyright © 2025 by Keith McNally and read by Richard E. Grant, with permission from Simon & Schuster, Inc.
I Regret Almost Everything is out Tuesday, May 6 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
Read the original article on People
