Ryanair ‘bans’ James Corden following restaurant furore

James Corden’s week may have just gone from bad to worse after Ryanair tweeted that he was “banned” from its flights.

The actor and presenter came under fire in recent days for allegedly shouting at serving staff in New York restaurant Balthazar.

Keith McNally, owner of the famed Manhattan eatery, called Corden out in a stinging Instagram post that called him a “hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man” and claiming he was “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago”.

He said he had chosen to “86” Corden as a result, an American term that means to refuse to serve a customer.

Following the edict, Ryanair, Europe’s biggest low-cost airline, issued its own ban with a tongue-in-cheek social media post.

The carrier tweeted, “James Corden BANNED from Ryanair”, along with a picture of the Late Late Show host on a plane with a red “no entry” sign plastered over his face.

The tweet clearly struck a chord with social media users, receiving nearly 300,000 likes and 12,600 retweets at the time of writing.

Followers had a field day with the tweet, with one commenting, “Your excess baggage charges, seat charges, and extortionate alcohol on board charges are all now forgiven”.

Another replied: “’Fly Ryanair; the only airline that guarantees you won’t have to sit next to James Corden’ (use this one for free, next marketing lines will cost)”.

The Balthazar ban was short-lived, having already been lifted after a contrite Corden called McNally to apologise.

But who knows when he’ll be allowed to take advantage of Ryanair’s low-cost fares again?