Balthazar. |
Maybe I’m just nearing my snug harbor and rationalizing a lifetime of obscurity. But despite being inclined to view fame favorably, to wistfully suspect that a little larger portion of attention would have been nice, when I see what kind of jerk those served a few portions of smoking hot success tend to become, I realize that I’m better off having nursed my little cup of tepid local awareness and been fairly satisfied.
I’ve known men — no names, please! — who no sooner got that Pulitzer Prize, or National Magazine Award, or whatever, than they became world-class assholes, unfit to be around. Not that they have much interest in hanging with a nobody like myself, not after the spotlight touches them. And the ironic thing is, while notoriety hurries off, the prickishness it brings seems to stick around.
I was reminded of this watching James Corden, comic actor and TV host, bathed in public purgatory last week over his don’t-you-know-who-I-am? arrogance at Balthazar, a French bistro in New York City.
The public relations fiasco proceeded in orderly stages. Last Monday, restaurateur Keith McNally went on Instagram to dub Corden “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.” He cited two incidents where Corden berated staff over supposed lapses. McNally banned “this tiny Cretin of a man” from his restaurant.
Next, the star “apologized profusely” and was duly forgiven. Then over the weekend, the third act: Corden, in a tone-deaf interview with The New York Times, firmly reestablished that he is, was, and no doubt always will be, an entitled bully, so insulated by fame and wealth that he just doesn’t realize he’s running the risk of being forever known as That Brit Who’s Mean to Waiters.
“I haven’t done anything wrong on any level,” Corden whined, clawing back his apology, before lecturing to the Times about what is and isn’t worthy of its attention. “It’s beneath you,” he said of what has been dubbed “the messiest feud of the year” by BuzzFeed. “It’s certainly beneath your publication.”
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I'd much rather be forced to watch nothing but T**** rallies than watch Corden. I've always found him to be unrelentingly annoying & phony as they come on tv.
ReplyDeleteTo think CBS hired this jerk to replace the great Craig Ferguson!
I had read the NYT piece this weekend but hardly thought of it as some sort of "vivisection" given that the "extensive literature on Corden’s rudeness, including “being called out by one of his sisters for his boorishness"" simply involved what Corden himself had written about in what the NYT accurately described as a Corden's own "candid" memoir.
ReplyDeleteIf you’ve been unclear on the distinction between James Corden and Ricky Gervais, you must have missed the latter’s Netflix show, After Life. Highly recommend.
ReplyDeleteIf you are saying that Gervais is talented and Corden is not, I have to disagree. I saw him as the Baker in Into the Woods and he was great. Also Corden was widely praised for his lead role in the hit comedy play One Man, Two Guvnors. "The show received universal critical acclaim and won Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for 2011. The Guardian deemed it "A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National's history."
DeleteI think talent and personality are completely separate realms. No question Corden is talented. It's his judgment in private life that is the issue here.
DeleteIn fact, I was making no reference at all to Corden’s talent. I just thought that anyone who has seen After Life, or the original British version of The Office, or Extras, would never mistake Gervais for him. They definitely have different strengths.
DeleteNone of which would describe me. You do read the blog, right Coey? "Anyone who has seen..." How do you imagine that would be me? I never saw "Game of Thrones."
DeleteMe, neither! Never got to The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, either. Still, I don’t think you’d regret watching After Life. Even if it got nowhere near the viewership of those other shows.
DeleteI can’t say I recall your TV viewing habits being mentioned much in the blog, so I’ve formed no opinions on the matter.
So he got 86ed from a classy N'Yawk eatery? Because, at 44, he behaved like a rude, entitled, spoiled teen-aged brat of 14? Why am I not surprised that this jerky boy continues his on-camera jerkiness in Real Life? A jerk is a jerk is a jerk, whether he's performing his lucrative shtick in a TV studio, before a hooting live audience...or insulting a stressed-out server and throwing a hissy fit in front of disgusted diners and staff.
ReplyDeleteI soon learned to quickly reach for my remote, after watching the smooth, smart, and sophisticated Stephen Colbert. Otherwise, even a few moments of James Corden's blathering were like entering a rest room, after a satisfying meal, and encountering a steaming, stinking, unflushed commode. He was 86ed from my living room a long time ago.
Don't watch his show and he sounds like an ass.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't read the Dave Itzkoff piece...not a subscriber. Times won't let me...oh, no...
ReplyDeleteuse an incognito window
DeleteThe McCartney bit was a classic.
ReplyDeletePlenty of talented jerks out there.
Point taken.
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