Why Do People Hate James Corden?
James Corden seems fine at face value. An apparently affable and occasionally charming British actor turned late-night host, Corden rose to prominence in a big way in the United States when he started leading CBS' "The Late Late Show" in 2015, ultimately ending his run in 2023. (Brits probably know him from the hit sitcom "Gavin & Stacey.") So why do people really, really hate this guy?
There's actually quite a bit of context here — and plenty of people know exactly why they think Corden is completely and totally insufferable. Some of those people think that it all comes down to his talent ... or lack thereof.
On a Reddit thread where the original poster asked why it is that people dislike him so much, u/MNKPlayer explained, "He's very clever in making friends with other famous celebs and uses them to garner views (like the karaoke car s*** he does). When you actually watch him, he leeches off what others do, jumping in and making it seem the joke was his. Most people here in the UK can't stand him and are glad he's f***ed off to the US. It won't be long until they feel the same." This comment was posted in December 2017, just months after Corden was criticized for making tone-deaf jokes about Harvey Weinstein at that year's amfAR Gala in Los Angeles.
On an entirely different and considerably more recent thread in the "Hot Ones" subreddit, another user invoked the fact that people have shared stories about the host potentially not being the nicest guy. "His appearance on Hot Ones only brought out the litany of stories and examples of how James Corden has been an insufferable tw*t from basically the moment he became famous," wrote u/ScratchMoore.
People have been spreading rumors about James Corden's terrible behavior for years
The root of these rumors regarding James Corden's difficult and nasty demeanor can be at least partially traced to Reddit itself, and the time he did a Reddit AMA thread in 2019. The top-voted post by u/wutang_tacos discusses a time the poster saw Corden behaving terribly in public. "Hey James. You won't remember me but me and my friends sat at a table next to you and Harry Styles + some others in Manchurian Legends in London's Chinatown about 6 years ago," the Redditor wrote. "We didn't bother you but you were a massively entitled c*** who yelled and treated the waitstaff like s*** and when one of my party politely suggested you calm down, you got really aggressive and threatening (in a chubby way. Like a boozy panda.) So my question is this; why did Harry seem so cool, while you were such a massive throbbing bellend?"
Other posters asked Corden how the YouTube algorithm could stop recommending his videos, if "The Late Late Show" could bring back his predecessor Craig Ferguson, and whether or not he's an "a**hole" in real life. (At least one person posted an unconfirmed story said to be about the comedian not helping his wife with their crying baby on a plane.) Corden didn't respond, but to say his AMA went poorly is a huge understatement. That cemented his bad reputation in Hollywood, but the worst was yet to come.
A New York restaurateur banned James Corden from his establishment for (allegedly) being a jerk
In October 2022, James Corden experienced his highest-profile scandal yet ... which seemed to prove that he's as unkind as Redditors claim. Keith McNally, Manhattan restaurateur and owner of the French hotspot Balthazar, took to Instagram to say he was banning Corden from the West Village restaurant. Sharing a grainy photo of the host, McNally wrote in the caption, "James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago."
From there, McNally described situations where Corden berated members of Balthazar's staff, as alleged by managers working while the comedian dined there in June and October of that year. The first incident involved a loose hair he said he found in a drink, and the second saw him lose his temper because his wife's omelette had some egg white mixed with the yolk.
Corden eventually apologized on "The Late Late Show" and McNally walked back the ban. However, the restaurant owner shared an update less than two weeks later, accusing the performer of lying to the London Times by denying his abusive behavior. Corden certainly comes off as charming and goofy when he wants to, but the portrait painted by both Redditors and McNally's staff is that of an entitled celebrity who is regularly unkind to others. With all that evidence, it's understandable that people just don't like him.