The Late Late Show host James Corden has been branded “difficult and obnoxious” to work with by TV director Craig Duncan.
Duncan, who worked on the British sports-based comedy panel series A League of Their Own, which was hosted by Corden from 2010 to 2019, has spoken of his experience on set.
“The most difficult and obnoxious presenter I have ever worked with was James Corden,” he said in a YouTube video. “I was asked by his production company [if] would I be willing to direct a challenge that was gonna be part of their A League of Their Own show… It was season seven, episode three, and I’ll never forget it.”
“They said, ‘How are you at working with difficult presenters?’ I say, ‘Oh right, OK. Well, I’ve filmed the Three Tenors before, and you can’t get more of a prima donna than an opera singer.’”
Duncan said he was asked to come along to a rehearsal to get a feel for the show and see if it was the right fit for him.
“It came to a point where [Corden] had to read from a card,” Duncan recalled. “[There was] kind of a joke in there, and he just looked at it like, ‘That’s not funny, that’s not funny. It’s s***. We have to rewrite this’.”
Duncan said he put it down to Corden having a bad day, and maybe the writing “hadn’t been up to scratch.” But when it came to the shoot itself, things only got worse.
“I noticed a creeping sense of anxiety,” he explained of the day on set when trying to film the segment under strict time restrictions. “We were working on it to save time when old bugger-lugs pipes up. [He said], ‘What the f*** is going on here? It’s obvious what you do. You put a camera there, you put a camera there, and you put a camera there… It’s so obvious.’”
Duncan added that he agreed to shoot it as Corden asked, which was the intention anyway, and that the presenter ended up being 45 minutes late to a segment he could have done in six minutes.
This isn’t the first time Corden has come under fire for his behavior. Last year, he was banned from the New York City restaurant Balthazar for his alleged bad attitude towards staff, and he was also accused of stealing a joke from Ricky Gervais for an episode of The Late Late Show.
And others clearly share similar sentiments as Duncan, including Spice Girls singer Mel B, who last December referred to Corden as one of the “biggest d***head celebrities” she’s ever met.
Corden is set to exit The Late Late Show later this month with his final show due to air Thursday, April 27.
The Late Late Show with James Corden, Weeknights, 12:35 am et/11:35 pm c, CBS
