James Corden Compared to Ellen DeGeneres Amid Brief Restaurant Ban

James Corden has been compared to Ellen DeGeneres on social media, after it was revealed that he had been briefly banned from a New York City restaurant for his alleged "abusive" and "nasty" behavior toward staff.

The host of The Late Late Show With James Corden, 44, made headlines on Monday, when restaurateur Keith McNally revealed that he had banned Corden from his SoHo eatery Balthazar after staff complaints.

In an Instagram post, McNally called fellow Briton Corden a "tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago. I don't often 86 a customer, [but] today I 86'd Corden. It did not make me laugh."

McNally went on to give two examples of alleged unpleasant bevhaior from Corden. Several hours after his initial post, McNally returned to Instagram to state that the ban had been lifted after Corden called him and "apologized profusely."

However, while McNally said that all had been forgiven, a number of Twitter users gathered to share their purported run-ins with the TV personality, with some drawing comparisons to former talk show host DeGeneres.

DeGeneres' image took a hit in July 2020, when Buzzfeed News published an article in which numerous allegations were made about her show being a toxic work environment behind the scenes.

She was also criticized by certain celebrities.

In a segment at the start of season 18 of the show in September 2020, DeGeneres said of the reports: "I learned that things happen here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously. And I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected."

Twitter's entertainment editorial lead Sam Stryker shared screenshots of McNally's comments, as well as older social media posts about alleged Corden encounters.

Amid the anecdotes that were shared online, voice actor Kenneth Robert Marlo also weighed in with claims of his own about the talk show host.

"Considering the way James Corden treated people in the Broadway house I managed years ago, I'm actually surprised he hasn't been banned from more than Balthazar's," Marlo wrote. "Absolutely wretched, wretched, miserable, little man. Let the downfall commence."

Newsweek has not been able to verify these claims.

Meanwhile, another Twitter user wrote: "Back when people were talking about how awful Ellen was off camera, one of the names that also kept coming up was James Corden. I didn't understand why until now."

Comedian Josh Macuga said in response to the online reaction: "I love that people are shocked that James Corden is hated by an entire restaurant chain. HE IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE MALE ELLEN. Nobody listens until something like this goes public."

A number of year-old tweets alleging unpleasant behavior on Corden's part were added to the Twitter thread as social media users piled in with their takes.

In his first Instagram post related to the most recent incident, McNally shared a manager's report from June that stated Corden showed a hair that was in his food to an apologetic senior staffer. The report described Corden as being "extremely nasty" to the restaurant manager.

Per the report, Corden then allegedly demanded: "Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far." Corden, McNally claimed, also hinted at writing "nasty reviews" of the restaurant online.

A second manager's report from October 9 stated that Corden called over a server to complain about his wife's egg yolk omelet. The dish was remade, but came back to the table with home fries instead of the salad that was originally ordered.

"That's when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: 'You can't do your job! You can't do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!'" McNally wrote in his Instagram post.

According to McNally, the server apologized, brought the floor manager to Corden's table and the dish was returned again, after which "everything was fine. [The manager] gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out."

The manager said Corden was "pleasant to him but nasty to the server," per the report, which added that the restaurant staffer was "very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift."

Hours later, after the report was picked up by several major news outlets, the ban was lifted, with McNally returning to Instagram to state that Corden had "just called me and apologized profusely."

"Having f***ed up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances," said McNally, who added that "anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn't deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. [...] All is Forgiven."

Newsweek has reached out to a representative of Corden for comment.