Balthazar Owner Keith McNally Reignites Feud With James Corden, Slamming Final Carpool Karaoke As “Cringe-Inducing” and “Horse S***”

Balthazar owner Keith McNally reignited his feud with James Corden by blasting his final Carpool Karaoke segment with Adele. 

McNally shared a screenshot of the Late Late Show segment on his Instagram account, where he accused the two performers of being “inauthentic.”

The restaurateur took a particular issue with Adele’s appearance during the event, where she switched places with Corden and took the wheel. The “Rolling in the Deep” singer surprised Corden at his home and offered to give him a ride to work. 

During the segment, which aired last month, the two reminisced about their close friendship, and performed “Don’t Rain on My Parade” by Barbra Streisand, plus Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and “I Drink Wine,” among others.

They shared a touching story about how Adele sent Corden a demo of “I Drink Wine” shortly after he told her his troubles with “work stuff and the internet.” He said that the song was “everything he was feeling that day.”

McNally wrote that the segment was “slightly cringe-inducing” on Instagram, despite admitting to usually being a fan of Carpool Karaoke. He said Adele’s make-up was “so hideously overdone” and criticized her acrylic nails, saying “she resembled a particularly scary Cruella de Vil.”

The restaurant owner added that the two are “brilliant performers,” but said they are “profoundly inauthentic.” He called their displays of emotion “sickening.”

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A post shared by Keith McNally (@keithmcnallynyc)

McNally concluded, “It was complete, fucking schlock. And of course James Corden – The King of Insincerity Himself – went along with it. It was the biggest pile of HORSE SHIT I’ve seen in 40 years.”

Many agreed with McNally in the comment section, while dissuading him from making harsh mentions of Adele’s appearance. “Let’s not hate on women for the way they do their make up and nails thou. That’s very early 2000s,” one wrote.

Another added, “All true but in the grand scheme of things they’re pretty harmless.”

Corden stirred up some serious restaurant drama with McNally over the years, which came to a head in 2022 when the restaurateur outed him for his mistreatment of staff and banned him from Balthazar. McNally called Corden “a tiny Cretin of a man.”

At first, the comedian dismissed the allegations and told The New York Times, “I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level.” He said at the time, “I was there. I get it. I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it’s so silly. I just think it’s beneath all of us. It’s beneath you. It’s certainly beneath your publication.”

Corden later admitted fault on his talk show and said that he made a “sarcastic, rude comment” to the servers at Balthazar after his wife was given food that she was allergic to.

Corden’s last broadcast of the Late Late Show aired on Apr 27 and included a moment where he poked fun at himself by getting hit by a car during his final Crosswalk the Musical segment, which has long angered Los Angeles drivers. 

To McNally’s supposed enjoyment, the former host has said that he doesn’t “envisage a scenario” where he would return to host another late-night program.