Balthazar owner goes after James Corden again after Adele Carpool Karaoke episode

New York City restaurant owner Keith McNally has hit out at James Corden and Adele after their recent Carpool Karaoke episode.

The Balthazar owner took to Instagram on Tuesday to criticise James Corden’s last instalment of Carpool Karaoke, which was released days before his final episode of The Late Late Show. McNally’s comments also came months after he briefly banned Corden from his restaurant, as he accused the comedian of “abusive behaviour” towards his restaurant staff.

In his Instagram post, McNally shared a screenshots of the Carpool Karaoke episode and said in the caption that he “always loved” Corden’s segments.  However, he alleged that Adele’s episode was the “most cringe-inducing” and claimed that she looked like “scary Cruella de Vil”.

“Corden and Adele are brilliant performers, but like many brilliant performers they’re profoundly inauthentic,” he wrote.

He then claimed that the pair were not actually “honest” about themselves during the episode and that this is what “inauthentic people tend to do ALL THE F***ING TIME”.

“As this carpool was part of Corden’s last Late Night Show, both he and Adele Went to Town being ‘honest’ about themselves. It was sickening,” he said.

McNally also made claims about a specific part of the segment: when Adele tearfully shared how she leaned on Corden, after she announced her divorce from Simon Konecki. Corden also teared up, as he recalled the emotional conversation that he and Adele had in 2020 about “work stuff, and the internet”.

In the caption of his post, McNally proceeded to explain his issues with this moment, writing: “At one point, Adele theatrically broke down on camera. It was Complete, F**ing SCHLOCK. And of course James Corden - The King of Insincerity Himself - went along with it. It was the biggest pile of HORSE S*** I’ve seen in 40 years.”

In the comments, many Instagram users hit back at McNally’s remarks and questioned his decision to criticise the Carpool Karaoke episode.

“I find this post deeply troubling, Keith. How could you ever have enjoyed Carpool Karaoke?” one wrote.

“Keep Adele’s name out of your mouth,” another added, while a third wrote: “Let’s not hate on women for the way they do their makeup and nails though. That’s very early 2000s.”

The Independent has contacted representatives for McNally, Corden, and Adele.

Back in October 2022, McNally first banned Corden from his New York City restaurant, due to how the actor allegedly treated restaurant staff. On Instagram, he wrote: “James Corden is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny cretin of a man.” He then claimed that the talk show host was “the most abusive customer to [his] Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago”.

The next day, McNally revealed on Instagram that he lifted the ban, since Corden had called him and “apologised profusely”. He also explained how he was someone who “believed in second chances”, before praising Corden’s apology.

“But anyone magnanimous enough to apologise to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar,” he wrote. “All is forgiven.”

Weeks later, Corden spoke out about the temporary ban and confessed that he once made “a rude, rude comment” to a waiter at Balthazar. “It was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment, it was ungracious to the server,” he said about his remark, during an episode of The Late Late Show.

The Cats star continued to speak about his apology to McNally and noted that the two of them had “a good talk”.

“He appreciated the call. I was happy that we got to clear the air. And I felt like we dealt with it privately,” Corden explained. “But by this point, the story was out there and more people were upset.”