James Corden stood up for his fellow passengers on a flight from Portugal to London over the weekend after a “chaotic” travel day with British Airways.
A woman named Vanessa told Metro the former “Late Late Show” host, 45, was the voice of reason for everyone else on board as he confronted the staff over the unacceptable experience.
Vanessa told the outlet that the plane circled below altitude for about 45 minutes after takeoff before an automated announcement declared an emergency landing.
“It was something along the lines of, ‘Gather your possessions as best you can, take off your shoes, and when you’re told to by the airplane staff, please adopt the brake position and when we land if you’re able, please find your nearest emergency exit and vacate the plane,’” Vanessa recalled.
However, soon after, “the staff on the plane assured the passengers that they would no longer have to assume the brake position.”
“Basically, what had happened was the flaps on the airplane wing which are supposed to go down when you are in the air won’t go down, which meant that they wouldn’t be able to raise them on landing,” she explained.
The plane, which took off from Faro, eventually landed in Lisbon.
Once they touched down, the passengers were all held on the tarmac for three hours before the aircraft was deemed unsafe for flight.
Despite the upsetting travel day, Vanessa said Corden tried to lift everyone’s spirits by laughing and cracking jokes.
“He walked up and down the aisles talking to people, and let everybody take a selfie with him,” she said.
“He was just really nice, he would have been well within his rights to sit and sulk in his seat like the rest of us would be doing but he didn’t,” Vanessa added.
After the passengers were finally let off the aircraft, the British star acted as the group’s spokesperson as he respectfully confronted the airline crew about how the situation was handled.
“We’re in the terminal and there was not a member of [British Airways] staff to be found,” she recalled. “And they put us in immigration queues. And there was just no one there telling us what was going on.”
According to Vanessa, the comedian was the one who told the flight staff that they were in the wrong place — and they immediately directed everyone to the right area.
Photos from the incident show the “Cats” actor speaking with the airline employees as his fellow passengers flanked him on each side.
However, the group was then told that only club flyers or gold flyers would get free hotel rooms for the night. Corden, who qualified for the comped room, once again rushed to the defense of his fellow passengers.
“James was a club flyer and he stood there, and was like, ‘What about all these people who’ve got all these kids with them?’ like saying that’s not acceptable. It’s not right,” Vanessa recalled.
While it’s unclear if his pleas worked, the passengers arrived at the airport the following day and were greeted by an equally charming version of Corden.
“We were told to turn up at 9:30 for a flight which actually was again delayed by over two hours and James Corden stood in the same queue as everybody else, doing the same things as everybody else did,” she said.
“I saw him let women and children in front of him,” Vanessa continued. “He was a really nice guy both times.”
While Vanessa had nothing but great things to say about the comedian, he has been blasted several times in the past for allegedly rude behavior.
In April 2023, one of Corden’s former TV directors called him one of the “most difficult” and “obnoxious” people he has worked with.
Less than six months earlier, Mel B also labeled the former late-night host as the “biggest d–khead” in Hollywood when asked to list the worst celebrities she had ever met.
“I think you always have to be nice to the people that you work with, whether it be production, camera guys, sound, lighting,” the former Spice Girl said of the comedian.
“We all work for the same thing, so you should always be nice and he hasn’t been very nice.”
