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Rob Brydon has addressed negative reports about his Gavin & Stacey co-star James Corden.
Brydon plays Uncle Bryn in the hit BBC sitcom, which is returning this Christmas for one final special written by Corden, who plays Smithy, and Nessa star Ruth Jones.
Corden, who can currently be seen performing on stage at London’s Old Vic theatre, has found himself at the centre of numerous reports about his alleged off-screen behaviour in recent years.
However, My Lady Jane actor Brydon has now said that the version of Corden reported on by the press differs from the one he knows personally. The comedian told The Times: “The James Corden I know is not the person I sometimes see being reported on. He gets a lot of stick.”
Brydon continued: “I’m hugely fond of him. I’d never heard of him when we met on a show in 2002, but I vividly remember saying to myself, ‘Oh I’ve got to pull my socks up here; this kid is really good.”
In 2022, restaurant owner Keith McNally, who owns Balthazar, described Corden as “a tiny cretin of a man” for allegedly making nasty comments and demands of his workers on two occasions.
Writing in an Instagram post, McNally declared he had “86’d” the comedian from his New York restaurant and Corden was no longer welcome there. However, after Corden admitted that he made “a rude, rude comment”, adding that “it was never my intention” to upset the staff, McNally lifted the ban.
Later that year, during an appearance on The Big Narstie Show, Spice Girls star Mel B branded Corden the “biggest d***head celebrity” she’s ever met – a scathing criticism she doubled down on the following year.
In March 2024, Sharon Osbourne, while featuring on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother, complained about Corden for his name-dropping habits. She told her fellow housemates: “I tell you who does that: James Corden – he does that all the time.
“I go to him, ‘I really like your shoes,’ and he goes, ‘Yes, Stella McCartney,’” she explained, adding: “I’m like, ‘I didn’t ask you who made them.’ He constantly, constantly throws out names.”
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Corden, who started his career as an actor and writer in the UK, moved to the US in 2015 when he scored a gig presenting The Late Late Show up until last year.
Reflecting on the comedy star’s arrival in the US, Osbourne said: “When he got to America, he played the LA game really well.” Osbourne concurred when her former X Factor co-star Louis Walsh said he “kissed all the right people”.
While discussing her time on the series with husband Ozzy, daughter Kelly and son Jack, Sharon described her assessment of Corden as “fair”, stating: “I mean, he’s fair game. That fake laugh.”
