James Corden was pictured looking irate as he spoke with a British Airways representative after a nightmare flight, but the Gavin & Stacey star’s fellow passengers have rushed to his defence
James Corden was spotted in a heated exchange with British Airways staff after a flight from Portugal turned chaotic.
The Gavin & Stacey co-creator, 45, appeared increasingly animated during his discussion with the airline crew after the nightmarish flight. The incident occurred as James was set to travel from Faro to London Heathrow but faced delays along with other passengers.
Thanks to James’ infamous clash with service staff back in 2022, when the British actor’s behaviour as a customer earned him a ban from a New York restaurant, many would be forgiven for thinking the worst upon seeing the tense snaps of James and the British Airways staffer.
But James’ fellow passengers have quickly shut down any accusations of diva demands from the dad-of-three and praised the former Late, Late Show host for sticking up for his travel buddies and keeping the mood as light as possible during the ordeal.
Despite the tension, one passenger on board praised James for being a calming influence amidst the turmoil. She claimed that his growing frustration seemed more warranted as he advocated for fellow travellers. In an interview with Metro, Vanessa, who was flying with her family, recounted the terrifying ordeal.
She detailed how, shortly after take-off, the aircraft was forced to return to the ground. Vanessa relayed the instructions given by the crew: “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,'” adding that they were instructed to brace and evacuate through emergency exits upon landing.
Passengers on a flight were initially told they didn’t need to worry, but the situation quickly changed when it was discovered that the wing flaps wouldn’t go down. “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,” one passenger recounted.
The aircraft was then rerouted to Lisbon, where travellers faced a three-hour wait before being informed that the plane was unfit for travel and had to disembark. Amidst the chaos, James, who was also on board, became a source of entertainment. The star was seen taking selfies with fans, lightening the mood during the delay. “He was just really nice,” the passenger said. “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.”
With no British Airways staff in sight once they reached the terminal, James stepped up to inquire about the next steps, mirroring the frustration of his fellow passengers. After a long wait, the flight was finally rescheduled for the next day and made its way back to the UK without further issues. Throughout the ordeal, James continued to show kindness, allowing women and children to board before him.
The praise for James is some welcome good PR for the BAFTA winner when it comes to interacting with service staff. Towards the end of 2022, the Smithy actor admitted to being rude to a restaurant server over a disagreement about eggs, leading to a temporary ban from New York eatery Balthazar.
Keith McNally, owner of Balthazar, stirred up social media in October 2022 when he labelled James an ‘abusive customer’ following some order mishaps. He briefly banned the global star before receiving an apology from James and lifting the ban. The drama kicked off when Balthazar owner Keith, aged 71, took to Instagram to allege that one of his waiters was left distressed following an incident where James complained about his wife’s omelette having mixed egg white and yolk during their visit to the renowned New York French brasserie.
The restaurant owner posted a picture of James on his Instagram, informing his followers that the actor was now barred from his establishments. In his initial post, Keith alleged that James lost his temper during a recent meal at his New York eatery, accusing him of yelling at a server: “You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!”
After initially blacklisting James from his restaurants due to the supposed incidents, Keith returned to Instagram the following day to announce that the actor had phoned him to apologise for his conduct and the ban had been lifted. However, on The Late, Late Show earlier the same week, James insisted he didn’t shout or make any ‘derogatory remarks’, stating that his only mistake was making a ‘snide’ comment about preparing the offending omelette himself.
“My wife explained that she has a serious food allergy,” James informed viewers of his late-night programme, after alleging that his meal had been served incorrectly three times. “The meals came, my wife was given the food that she was allergic to. She hadn’t taken a bite of it or anything, no worries, we sent it back. All was good.”
“As her meal came wrong to the table the third time, in the heat of the moment I made a sarcastic rude comment about cooking it myself. It is a comment I deeply regret.” James went on: “I worked shifts at restaurants for years, I have such respect for anyone who does that job.”
“The restaurant manager and the server were lovely, they brought out four glasses of champagne and we were like “that’s not necessary, we don’t need it, we had a great time. But here’s the truth of it – because I didn’t shout or scream , I didn’t get up out of my seat, I didn’t call anyone names or use derogatory language, I have been walking around thinking that I’ve not done anything wrong. But I have, I made a rude comment.”
Keith responded to James’ televised apology by sharing a picture of the star with his followers and writing: “LAST WORD…….. Last Night on his TV show, James Corden very graciously apologized for his outburst at Balthazar. It takes a real man to do this. In the past, I’ve behaved much worse than Corden, but wasn’t man enough to apologize. For this reason, I’m going to lift the ban on Corden and impose one on myself instead. I’m going to ban myself from Balthazar for 2 weeks. People who live in Glass Houses..”
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
