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James Corden Breaks Silence on Restaurant Ban and Makes Things Worse

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In an interview with The New York Times to promote his new Prime Video series “Mammals,” the 44-year-old host of the Late Late Show, James Corden, finally addressed the comments made by Balthazar owner Keith McNally after he banned Corden from his restaurant.

In a post on Instagram, McNally said that Corden was “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.” It led him to “86” Corden, barring him from the eatery on Monday.

He lifted the ban hours later after Corden called McNally to apologize.  Corden said he was comfortable speaking about the situation while being interviewed a few days later.

“I haven’t done anything wrong on any level. So why would I ever cancel this [interview]? 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.”

When asked if he was aware of the conversation McNally’s posts ignited on the internet, Corden said he had not “really read anything” and asked, “should we not all be a little grown-up about this?”

“It’s strange. It’s strange when you were there. I think I’m probably going to have to talk about it on Monday’s show. My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I’ll probably have to talk about it…I promise you, ask around this restaurant. They don’t know about this. Maybe 15% of people. I’ve been here, been walking around New York, not one person’s come up to me. We’re dealing in two worlds here.”

During the interview, which was conducted at a restaurant, another customer happened to send back a dish nearby. Corden pointed out that incidents like this happen “every day” and they are “happening in 55,000 restaurants as we speak.” He asked the journalist, “Can you imagine now if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It’s insane.”

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According to McNally, Corden treated his employees poorly both times he visited his restaurant and also at another establishment named Café Luxembourg.

One of the incidents happened in June when Corden found a hair in his lunch while dining at Balthazar.

McNally said that “although this is diabolical, it happens very occasionally in all restaurants.” Corden showed the hair to the manager after he finished his meal. The manager was apologetic. Corden then said, “Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I don’t write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.”

In another incident, McNally said that Corden was upset about his wife’s meal and lashed out at a server.

“James Corden was at Balthazar with his wife on Oct. 9 for brunch. He asked for a table outside. Brunch Maitre D’ Allie Wolters took the party to table 301. Mr. Corden’s wife ordered an egg yolk omelet with Gruyere cheese and salad. A few minutes after they received the food, James called their server, M. K. and told her there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk. M. K. informed the floor manager, G. The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad. That’s when James Corden began yelling like crazy to 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!’ M.K. was very apologetic and brought G. over to the table. He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine. He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out. G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server.’ M.K. was very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.”

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After publicly calling out Corden on social media and banning and then unbanning him from his renowned NYC restaurant, McNally shared with his Instagram followers that he was “feeling strange.”

“On the one hand, he was definitely abusive to my staff, on the other hand, I feel really sorry for him right now. Like most cowards I want it both ways, F— it, I’m going to get drunk.”

However, upon seeing the published NYTimes interview, McNally made another post on Instagram expressing his disappointment in Corden’s comments.

“I’ve no wish to kick a man when he’s down. Especially one who’s worth $100 Million, but when James Corden said in yesterday’s N.Y. Times that he hadn’t done “anything wrong, on any level,” was he joking? Or was he denying being abusive to my servers? Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didn’t do it. Although I didn’t witness the incident, lots of my restaurant’s floor staff did. They had nothing to gain by lying. Corden did. I wish James Corden would live up to his Almighty initials and come clean. If the supremely talented actor wants to retrieve the respect he had from all his fans (all 4 of them) before this incident, then he should at least admit he did wrong. If he goes one step further and apologizes to the 2 servers he insulted, I’ll let him eat for free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.”

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SNL Faces Backlash After ‘Try Guys’ Cheating Scandal Skit

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This weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” episode featured a comedy skit about the Try Guys cheating incident. The skit is receiving backlash for minimizing the relationship between a boss and a subordinate as internet drama.

Ned Fulmer, a now ex-member of the YouTube sensation, had an affair with one of his employees. The group, which consisted of four members, parted ways with Fulmer after “an internal review” of what he described as a “consensual workplace relationship.”

Fans knew Fulmer as the “wife guy” because he often mentioned his wife during channel videos.

In the skit, Ego Nwodim plays a CNN anchor, and Brendan Gleeson, who was hosting the show, plays a correspondent. SNL cast members Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes and Bowen Yang played Try Guys Zach Kornfeld, Keith Habersberger, and Eugene Lee Yang.

While reporting from in front of the White House, Gleeson’s character gets interrupted by the news that the remaining three Try Guys have released a statement in response to the controversy.

“CNN can confirm that the Try Guys have released an official YouTube video clapping back at ex–Try Guy, the wife-guy Try Guy. He disrespected the brand by making out with one of the Food Babies at the Harry Styles concert,” his character says.

Like many others who came across the Try Guys story, Nwodim’s “CNN anchor” did not fully grasp the nature of the controversy or identify the Try Guys. Gleeson’s “correspondent” then tries to explain the situation as Nwodim’s “anchor” tries to understand.

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Eventually, CNN gets the “Try Guys” on the line, and Yang, playing Eugene, angrily says Fulmer “committed the heinous act of having a consensual kiss and not telling us, his friends.”

Nwodin’s “anchor” later says, “wow, so the full story is that your friend had a side chick, and you fired him?”

Internet users are upset by how the SNL writers framed the situation, as it seemed like the skit was ridiculing the remaining three members for their emotional response to the affair. Others pointed out how the skit does not meaningfully acknowledge the power dynamics and legal repercussions of a boss’s relationship with his employee.

One Twitter user called out the writers for mocking the three remaining members instead of Fulmer.

“CEO of a company cheats on his wife with a subordinate, is fired because of the power imbalance/workplace harassment, and his colleagues get emotional discussing it.

SNL: Let’s roast those guys and not the CEO – no big deal! All men cheat! Beyonce got cheated on too!”

In a previous episode of a podcast run by the Try Guys, Fulmer had mentioned that he had a friend who worked as a writer at SNL, prompting many to suspect his friend helped skew the narrative in his favor.

Keith Habersberger’s wife, Becky Habersberger, also pointed this out in a tweet.

“Anyone remember the Trypod episode where he talks about his Yale friend who writes for SNL…asking for a friend.”

A commenter under a YouTube video of the skit, named Max Ride, noted that the company has “20 non-millionaire employees that could lose their jobs if the company gets sued.” The video instead mainly characterized the three men as having an unwarranted overreaction to the situation.

“After the other three guys found out about this, they went through a three-week internal review with lawyers because Ned opened up the company to a shit ton of legal issues. They terminated his contract as well as their seven-year friendship with him (this was before the internet found out).”

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Summarizing the leadup to the media attention, he said that “they didn’t want it to be a big deal, but the internet figured out that they had edited him out of videos, and the texts of him cheating got leaked, so it became more public than they originally expected.”

“The reason for the shock is because his entire online persona was about loving his wife, so the internet felt blindsided. However, and this is important to note, he didn’t get fired because he cheated; he got fired because he slept with his employee. The reason they have to edit him out of all the videos was because they couldn’t ‘profit’ off of his image after he was fired as this would, again, open them up to a shit ton of legal issues. Overall this entire scandal boils down to an asshole making an incredibly stupid decision, not even trying to hide it, and potentially blowing up the hard work of 20+ people, including his own.”

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The Try Guys Part Ways With ‘Wife Guy’ Ned Fulmer After Workplace Affair

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The Try Guys announced on Tuesday that they are cutting ties with one of their members, Ned Fulmer, after he admitted to cheating on his wife with one of his employees. Fulmer was known by fans to be the “wife guy” and even wrote a cookbook titled “The Date Night Cookbook” with his wife, Ariel Fulmer.

The viral YouTube group had four members: Zach Kornfeld, Keith Habersberger, Eugene Lee Yang and Fulmer. The group created content together while at Buzzfeed, where they were former employees. Eventually, they left the platform in 2018 to pursue their own production company and YouTube channel, which has more than 7.8 million subscribers.

Ned confirmed the cheating allegations with a statement on Instagram.

“Family should have always been my priority, but I lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship. I’m sorry for any pain that my actions may have caused to the guys and the fans but most of all to Ariel. The only thing that matters right now is my marriage and my children, and that’s where I am going to focus my attention.”

The other woman is rumored to be Try Guy’s associate producer Alexandria Herring.

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Fans of the series started to feel that something was wrong when Fulmer was missing from the channel’s last three videos. Members of the series’ subreddit shared photos of stills from finished video shoots containing Fulmer, causing them to speculate that he had been getting edited out of the videos. Fulmer was present in a photo from the group’s filming of an episode where Habersberger tried the entire Caesars Palace menu in Las Vegas. The final video did not contain Fulmer at all.

Ariel Fulmer, who hosts a podcast called “You Can’t Sit With Us” with the other partners of the group’s members, was absent from its previous two episodes. Fans noted how the timing coincided with an announcement from the group last week that they would only be releasing one episode per week instead of their usual two until the end of October.

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A few weeks prior,  a post titled “Ned,” authored by user “hamilton390,” had appeared on the Try Guys subreddit on Sept. 3, alleging that “multiple people have seen Ned around NYC this week making out with women at the local bars.” The post received only a few comments, all skeptical of the claim. One commenter wrote, “source: I made it up.” In response, “hamilton390” sent one of the commenters a series of screenshots of Instagram direct messages. It was later revealed that “hamilton390” was Herring’s fiancé Will Thayer.

In the screenshots, Thayer received a message from someone who saw Herring kissing Fulmer in a dive bar near NYU in New York City. The message read that the user “saw her making out with ned from the try guys,” and the timing of the sighting aligned with dates when Fulmer and Herring were known to have been in NYC. The user also sent Thayer some blurry videos for proof. Thayer thanked the sender and replied, “just spoke to Ariel for an hour.” Thayer scrubbed his Instagram of photos of Herring before unfollowing her. Fulmer and Herring also unfollowed each other, reinforcing fans’ suspicion that Herring was the woman in the videos.

The Try Guys confirmed that they removed Fulmer from the group with a short message.

“Ned Fulmer is no longer working with The Try Guys. As a result of a thorough internal review, we do not see a path forward together. We thank you for your support as we navigate this change.

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Maroon 5’s Adam Levine Accused of Cheating on Pregnant Wife

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Maroon 5’s lead singer Adam Levine is facing allegations that he cheated on his wife. One woman claims to have dated him for a year, while three others allege Levine privately sent them inappropriate messages.

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When Shock Value Goes To Far; How The Media Thrives Off Celebrity Tragedy

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This past Sunday, the world lost one of the greatest basketball legends to ever step on the court, Kobe Bryant. Him, his 13-year-old daughter Gigi, and seven other individuals were on their way to a travel basketball game in Thousand Oaks, California via helicopter when it tragically crashed, killing everyone on board. 

At 2:24 p.m. on Sunday January 26th, the world stopped, as TMZ posted the story covering Bryant’s devastating death, merely one hour after police got the initial report of a downed aircraft. Twitter and social media platforms alike surged with millions of individuals trying to get some further confirmation beyond that of just a celebrity gossip website. Eventually, it was obviously confirmed that both Bryant, his daughter, and seven other innocent lives were taken in the crash, but people were quick to turn on the original outlet, who reportedly released the news before the family had even been informed. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff, and Undersheriff, both have since made public statements regarding TMZ and their inappropriate method of delivering “news” without any regard or consideration of those who would be affected by such shocking information.  

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“It would be extremely disrespectful to understand that your loved one … perished and you learn about it from TMZ. That is just wholly inappropriate,” said Sheriff Alex Villanueva during a press conference. 

“I am saddened that I was gathering facts as a media outlet reported … Kobe had passed. I understand getting the scoop but please allow us time to make personal notifications to their loved ones. It’s very cold to hear of the loss via media. Breaks my heart,” Los Angeles County Undersheriff Tim Murakami tweeted. 

What’s especially raising the eyebrows of those against the outlet is the fact that this is not the first time in which TMZ was the first to report on high-profile celebrity-death tragedies. In 2009, they were the first to report on Michael Jackson’s overdose, in 2012 they were the first to report that Whitney Houston died in a bathtub, in 2016 they tweeted out regarding Prince’s death, and recently, in 2018, they were first to report Mac Miller’s overdose. 

Like any other major news network, the individuals who work on the inside have all sorts of connections to people in the industry. TMZ has that, and also connections within Hollywood, considering they’re a celebrity gossip media outlet over anything. Additionally, TMZ has been around since 2005 and was one of the first major online celebrity news sites, so they hold a lot of notoriety, especially in regard to celebrity death. 

According to a 2016 profile of Harvey Levins, the founder of TMZ, the network has a huge network of “tipsters” that they’ve built strong relationships with throughout the past decade. This network includes high-profile celebrity lawyers, court officials, Hollywood service workers, and more. Basically they have a ton of connections to individuals who work very closely with the celebrities they report on. The profile also states that TMZ more often than not will compensate the individuals who deliver tips to them; a practice that most credible news outlets don’t do. 

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While TMZ has definitely built up a solid enough foundation to be considered a “credible news source,” the ethics of it all make them one of the least liked media outlets to date. It’s a fairly new debate, regarding news on celebrities who, at the end of the day, are just regular people with talent that we all can admire. But in an age of influencers and young LA adults making a name for themselves through sponsored posts and fancy trips, it’s hard to care about anything regarding “celebrities.” 

One thing we all can agree on, when it comes to tragedy or death, we must respect the sanctity of privacy and family. LA Police and individuals on social media, are fairly adamant about the disgust they feel towards TMZ and other news sources that thrive off shock value stories with no regard to those involved. In an age of social media and constant celebrity engagement it’s hard to tell, however, if there’s room to ice out those types of outlets to make room for more legitimate and respectful forms of journalism. 

When a tragedy as monumental and culturally impactful as Kobe Bryant’s unexpected death occurs, journalists are quick to throw away any morality they once had in order to get the scoop. The reality is, the public will get all the details one way or the other via confirmation from real officials (such as police or firefighters) but because of how fast information is spread on the internet, the public gets just as greedy as those working in the media. So we can sit and scold TMZ all day long, but we also need to accept our role in actively participating in a culture that exploits tragedy for clicks.

We desire all the information right as it’s being learned, so we demand updates, but hate the invasive means others had to go through to get them. In order to truly move forward as a society, we need to understand that these are people who are put on a massive pedestal, who’s value we equate to how successful they are. Once we collectively agree that we need to focus more on these individuals talents that made them famous in the first place, as opposed to everything happening in their personal lives, we can begin to progress.