Former Late Show host James Corden has tense exchange with airline staff, passengers defend him

James Corden finds himself in yet another public controversy. The 45-year-old former host of “Late Late Show” was seen on Sunday appearing to chastise a British Airways employee following a turbulent flight from Faro, Portugal, to the UK. Other travellers supported him, arguing that he was in the right.

In comparison to his earlier public altercations, this is a change. Famous Big Apple restaurateur Keith McNally banned Corden from the popular downtown eatery Balthazar after he made waves for being “rude” to the staff there. Additionally, Spice Girl Mel B has called Corden “the biggest d-head I’ve ever met.”

However, other travellers aboard Corden’s flight, according to The Daily Mail, claim that the former talk show host was kindly speaking up for everyone when the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in the Portuguese city due to a mechanical issue.

“Gather your possessions as best you can, take off your shoes, and when you’re told to by the airplane staff, please adopt the brace position and when we land if you’re able, please find your nearest emergency exit and vacate the plane,” fellow passenger Vanessa told Metro of the mid-flight incident.

She claims that even though the passengers were informed they were no longer required to brace, they had to wait three hours on the Lisbon tarmac before the aircraft was shut down.

According to Vanessa, Corden entertained the passengers during this tiresome journey.“He walked up and down the aisles talking to people, and let everybody take a selfie with him,” she said.

She added, “I made a joke and went, ‘Oh if we’re all going to die. You could tell us how does the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special end?’” she said, referring to the popular British sitcom.

“And he went ‘Do you really want to know?’ and I went ‘Yeah.’ He went, ‘I can’t tell you.’”

How did James Corden stand up for fellow passengers?
Vanessa stated that Corden questioned a staff member because the passengers were sent to the incorrect queue when they got off the plane in Lisbon.

“So then BA finally let us off the plane,” she recalled. “We’re in the terminal and there was not a member of BA staff to be found. And they put us in immigration queues. And there was just no one there telling us what was going on.”

She justified his actions in images that show Corden appearing to have a dissatisfied verbal altercation with airline employees.

“The people he’s speaking to in that picture are the flight staff on our plane. I watched him fist bump the pilot as he got off the plane, he said, ‘Thank you very much,’” she said.

“James was a club flier and he stood there, and was like ‘What about all these people who’ve got all these kids with them?’ like saying that’s not acceptable. It’s not right,’” she claimed, adding that Corden “stood in the same queue as everybody else, doing the same things as everybody else did.”