Conan O’Brien once fired crew member for being “rude” to waiter

Conan O'Brien

Conan O’Brien once fired a member of staff for being “rude” to a waiter in a restaurant, a former employee has claimed.

On Tuesday (October 18), numerous social media users shared stories of celebrities mistreating catering staff, following the news that James Corden had temporarily been banned from a New York restaurant due to his “abusive” behaviour.

Stand-up comedian Todd Levin, who was a writer on Conan from 2010 to 2020, was one of the many who contributed to the discussion around celebrity entitlement.

Taking to Twitter, Levin shared a similar story about one of his former colleagues.

“At CONAN there was a crew member who was fired because Conan witnessed him being impatient and rude to a server at a restaurant,” he tweeted, before jokingly adding: “Just remembering that now, for no particular reason.”

The story about James Corden broke after Keith McNally, the owner of New York restaurant Balthazar, banned the late-night host for being “extremely nasty” to staff members.

In an Instagram post, McNally explained how, during a visit in June, Corden demanded a round of drinks “this second” and that his previous drinks be made free after he found a hair in his food.

On another occasion this month, McNally alleged that Corden was once again abusive to staff members when they got his wife’s order wrong.

According to the owner, Corden yelled at the server: “You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself!”

However, McNally later reversed Corden’s ban after claiming the presenter “called him and apologised profusely”.

“I strongly believe in second chances,” McNally said, before adding that “anyone magnanimous enough to apologise” to him and his staff “doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere.”

Corden has since been welcomed back to the restaurant, with McNally stating: “All is forgiven.”

Back in April, Corden announced that he will step down as host of The Late Late Show in 2023, having fronted the chat show for eight years.

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