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Most talk show hosts have been called out for mean behavior.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Oct 18, 2022
By now we've all heard the scathing accusations penned against late-night host James Corden that led to him being banned from Balthazar — a restaurant in New York City.
On October 17, Keith McNally, the owner of Balthazar, slammed Corden's alleged rude conduct in his restaurant.
"James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man," he captioned a photo of a smiling Corden.
"And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago."
While McNally noted that he "strongly" believed in second chances, he couldn't excuse Corden's blatant disrespect.
Corden later "apologized profusely" to McNally over the phone and the restaurant owner lifted the ban, allowing the comedian to dine at Balthazar once more.
However, James Corden has previously been called out for his horrible treatment of others.
Before this recent incident, Corden's mean behavior was already public knowledge.
Many people have called out "The Late Late Show" host for faking the "nice-guy" persona that he often brandishes on his show.
In a story posted on Reddit, an alleged witness who claimed to have dined in the same London restaurant as Corden said that the comedian "yelled and treated the waitstaff like sh*t and when one of my party politely suggested you calm down, you got really aggressive and threatening."
Corden was also accused of being rude to his wife, Julia Carey, after another alleged witness wrote that Corden had ignored and refused to help his wife with their "crying baby" while on a flight from London to New York.
Corden joins a long list of other talk show hosts who have also exhibited similar callous attitudes toward others.
Corden being exposed as someone who is routinely mean to others came as to surprise for some, while others pointed out that the persona he pushes on his show is all just an act, similar to that of his fellow talk show hosts.
Ellen DeGeneres, who often ended her former talk show by telling everyone to "be kind" to each other, was called out a plethora of times for being a cruel person to her staff.
Former employees of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," spoke out against the toxic work culture that DeGeneres cultivated.
According to BuzzFeed News, The employees said they were fired after taking medical leave or bereavement days to attend family funerals.
One employee even shared that she walked off the job after receiving comments about her race.
While it wasn't DeGeneres outright making these comments to her staff, she didn't speak up and put an end to it.
Even late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have been accused of less-than-stellar behavior, despite how they might portray themselves on their respective shows.
In March 2020, Kimmel's former writer called out sexist and homophobic behavior that took place on the set of the late-night show.
As for Fallon, the former "SNL" cast member has been called out for a slew of controversial incidents, including once donning blackface while on the comedy sketch show, being involved in a bar fight, and being named in a sexual assault claim.
While viewers of these talk shows would rather believe that people like Corden, DeGeneres, Kimmel, and Fallon are just as nice off-screen as they appear to be on-screen, it's sometimes not always the case.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.