A TV director has slammed James Corden the ‘most difficult and obnoxious presenter’ he has ever worked with, claiming the English comic berated and cursed at staff for a popular British game show.
The comments come from Craig Duncan, who directed Corden, 44, during an episode of A League of Their Own – a program that featured the The Late Late Show host as a presenter from until 2019.
Taking to YouTube to recall his experience with the actor, Duncan – a seasoned director with more than 60 credits to his name – described in detail how Corden insulted his lens-work and even called him ‘stupid’.
‘What the f**k is going on here?’ Corden allegedly asked the director and other staffers during filming for the show in 2013. ‘You put a camera there, you put a camera there. It’s so obvious how you shoot it. You’re stupid.’
The assertion came in a video shared to Duncan’s YouTube this week, in which he alleged the show host -recently tabbed one of the ‘biggest d**kheads’ in show business by ex-Spice Girl Mel B – engaged in a meltdown similar to the one that saw him banned from Balthazar late last year.
‘Difficult and obnoxious’: The actor, 44, has come under fire from Craig Duncan, who worked with James on an episode of A League Of Their Own and has criticized his behavior
Fuming: In a video shared to his YouTube channel, Craig (pictured) said: ‘The most difficult and obnoxious presenter I’ve ever worked with is James Corden’
‘The most difficult and obnoxious presenter I have ever worked with was James Corden,’ Duncan began by saying.
‘I was asked by his production company 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.’
Duncan went on to explain how during filming Corden ‘treaded all over his toes’ and later became confrontational with staff.
He said: ‘We were working it out, when old buggerlugs pipes up, ‘What the f**k is going on here?”
Corden proceeded to micromanage the director, James claimed in the clip, which was posted on Sunday.
‘It’s obvious what you do – you put a camera there, you put a camera there (…) It’s so obvious how you shoot it,’ Corden allegedly said during the tirade. ‘You’re stupid.’
A veteran in the TV industry, Duncan remembered how he again ignored the warning signs – assuming Corden was having a bad day and was not a cause for concern.
Duncan agreed to film the segment – but recalled how was met with an icy atmosphere when arriving for filming the next day. He said the tension stemmed from the fact that Corden was only available for a limited time to film.
‘We get to the part where the chef has to pick the winner and we had like five or six minutes left,’ Duncan recalled.
‘I got all the camera crew round to have a huddle to discuss how we’re going to shoot this in five minutes. We were working it out to save time.’
Duncan recalled how at that point, Corden’s costars, former English footballer Jamie Redknapp and comedian Jack Whitehall, all appeared friendly – but claimed he felt there a ‘creeping sense of anxiety’ on the set as everyone started ‘clock-watching’.
‘We were working it out,’ Duncan said. ‘When old bugger-lugs pipes up.’
After being cursed at, Craig claimed he attempted to quell the presenter’s rising anger with appeasement, telling him he was ‘absolutely right’.
Criticised: Craig said he was asked to direct a pre-recorded Masterchef-style challenge which would then feature on the show, but slammed James as ‘difficult’ to work with
He added that the the camera crew that was the ‘best thing to do’, adding that filming had been going ‘really well’ before those last few minutes – which he said took 45 minutes anyway due to Corden being late to the studio.
He claimed if not for Corden, he would have finished the scene in minutes, crowning the winner of the cooking challenge without issue.
‘I hope I never, ever work with [James] again,’ Craig said of the experience.
Prior to detailing that meltdown, Duncan described the ‘tense’ atmosphere he felt during filming because of the comedian, as well as an ominous warning when he was approached by the show’s producers.
‘They said, ‘How are you at working with difficult presenters?’ Duncan recalled.
‘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.”
Brushing off the warning, Craig said showrunners then instructed him to attend a dry rehearsal – specifically so that he could ‘witness James at work’ before agreeing.
Watching the rehearsal, Craig claimed Corden’s first issue came while reading a cue card with a joke he branded as ‘s**t’, and demanded rewritten.
Craig recalled: ‘He had to read from a card. It was kind of a joke in there, and he just looked at it like, ‘That’s not funny.”
Corden then allegedly added: ‘It’s s**t, we have to rewrite that.’
MailOnline has contacted Corden’s representatives for comment.
The incident is only the latest in a series of controversies involving the TV talker’s allegedly mercurial attitude.
Back In October, the star was sensationally banned from famed Manhattan eatery Balthazar by owner Keith McNally, who branded Corden his ‘most abusive customer ever’ for allegedly berating his staff.
Taking to Instagram to announce the ban, McNally – one of the most famous restaurateurs in all of New York -accused the comic of engaging in rude and childish behavior on two separate occasions.
On the first , Corden reportedly claimed a hair had been found in his food – and demanded free drinks to make up for it, according to McNally.
The second involved his wife, Julia, and an egg-yolk omelette she ordered.
Instead, McNally claimed, she received a plate with egg white on it, angering Corden.
The final straw came shortly thereafter when another omelette was sent out with a side of home fries instead of salad, sending the star into a full-blown rage.
Corden later apologized for his behavior and McNally lifted his ban.
When asked by DailyMail.com Thursday if he had any words on Corden’s alleged 2013 blowup, McNally refused to comment – and simply laughed.
In November, James apologised to fellow comedian Ricky Gervais after ‘inadvertently’ using his 2018 stand-up joke on his Late Late Show.
Ricky, 61, tweeted a clip from the TV host’s show on Halloween night in which Corden repeated the joke from his Netflix stand-up gig Ricky Gervais: Humanity.
Corden wrote on Twitter: ‘Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him.
‘It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix.’
Ricky then shared a clip of Corden repeating the joke, saying: ‘The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.’
But the comedian later said he deleted the tweet because he ‘felt sorry for’ James.
Telling the joke, James said on the show: ‘If someone puts up a poster in a town square that says ‘guitar lessons available’, like you don’t get people in the town going, ‘I don’t want to play guitar! I want to play the piano you piece of s**t!’
‘Well that sign wasn’t for you. It was for somebody else! You don’t have to get mad about all of it.’
But James’ joke was a copy – practically word for word – of Ricky’s 2018 joke.
Ricky said in his comedy sketch: ‘They choose to read my tweet, and then take that personally.
‘That’s like going into a town square, seeing a big notice board and there’s a notice – guitar lessons – and you go, ‘But I don’t want f***ing guitar lessons’.’
Awkward: In November, James apologised to Ricky Gervais (pictured) after ‘inadvertently’ using his 2018 stand-up joke on his Late Late Show
Apology: James wrote on the social media site: ‘Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him’
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Controversy: James was also recently accused by staff at Balthazar of screaming at them after they served his wife received an egg-yolk omelette with egg-white in it
He added: ‘Fine, it’s not for you then, just walk away. Don’t worry about it!’
Ricky noticed how James’ sketch was copied from his own 2018 and tweeted about it.
When a fan asked the British comedian whether Corden had asked permission to use the joke, he said: ‘No. I reckon one of the writers ‘came up with it’ for him. I doubt he would knowingly just copy such a famous stand up routine word for word like that.’
The Late Late Show later deleted the video of James making the joke from their Twitter page.
