Netflix's Blockbuster Throws Some Serious Shade at James Corden
Recent days have not been easy for the American TV host, whose behavior in restaurants even got him banned in one place in New York.
Netflix comedy Blockbuster appeared to have shaded James Corden, referring to him as a "bully" and a "menace" in its sixth episode.
In the episode, one of the characters, video store associate Connie, tells her colleague that she is having nightmares about Corden.
"Don't let the accent fool you," she says in the episode. "He's a bully! And a menace!"
One could think that this is a timely shade, given how Corden has recently discovered himself in hot water over his "nasty" behavior in one of the New York restaurants. However, according to the showrunners, the episode was in fact created over a year ago, and the shade is nothing but uncanny timing.
"We wrote this over a year ago, then shot it in Vancouver at the end of February, so this was way before anything [in the news]," creator Vanessa Ramos told TVLine. "[The Late Late Show] for whatever reason felt like something the Connie character would watch."
According to Ramos, the joke was aimed more at the "Carpool Karaoke night terrors." Carpool Karaoke is one of Corden's most famous programs, where he takes celebrities for a ride and sings their songs with them while driving.
However, the series schedule has coincided with the recent scandal around Corden, who was blasted for rude behavior towards staff at a New York restaurant. The owner of the restaurant said that the comedian was "the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago."
After public criticism and even a ban from the place, Corden apologized, admitting that his comments to the server were "ungracious", and the ban was lifted.
Still, the social media is reluctant to brush the scandal under the rug. People have been referring to Corden as a "menace" — just like Netflix's blockbuster did, ironically. Moreover, he is now accused of stealing jokes from other comedians.
"After being banned from a NY restaurant for waiter-abuse, James Corden stole a joke from Ricky Gervais and also stole a joke from comedian Noel Fielding. This is Corden's worst week and he was in the movie version of Cats", Twitter user AlexKaseberg joked dryly.
Blockbuster's showrunner noted that the timing of the show's little shade was "interesting", but "our intention was nothing of the sort." The show premiered on November 3, dropping all of its 10 episodes at once.