James Corden has played down Lily Allen’s savage comment that he was desperate to be friends with her, sources claiming the former late-night host branded the singer’s podcast comments “tasteless”.
Corden, who returned to the UK after living in the US for the best part of a decade, was recently described as a “deadbeat friend” by the British singer as she recalled their first meeting.
Allen, 39, made the comment while hosting her podcast Miss Me? alongside her childhood best friend and fellow “nepo baby” Miquita Oliver.
The comments came after Corden, 45, was dogged by accusations of bad manners, rude behaviour backstage and putting on a false “nice guy” persona in front of audiences.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, a source revealed that the Gavin & Stacey star believes Allen “was a bit of a fool for saying anything”.
James Corden has dismissed Lily Allen’s brutal claim that he was desperate to be friends with her, sources have told DailyMail.com
Insiders claim the 45-year-old former Late Late Show host thought the singer’s podcast comments were “in poor taste.”
“James gets a lot of flak for the way he treats people time and time again and is a very polarizing person,” the source said. “He’s a bit like Ellen DeGeneres today – you either like her or you don’t, nothing in between.”
‘So when Lily recently spoke ill of him, to James it was just another day in his life, just another enemy.’
They continued: ‘He thought it was in poor taste for Lily to bring up her past and that she had been a bit silly to say anything.
“He believes he’s never been desperate and deserves better, and he’s pretty much over people talking about him in negative ways. But the only way that’s going to change is when he starts to change.”
The source added that the former host of The Late Late Show still doesn’t understand why so many people have spoken out against him in recent years.
“James doesn’t understand why he upsets so many people because he’s just himself,” the source added. “But being himself is a bit delusional and really the problem is that he’s always so self-centered and if you don’t befriend him or take his side, he makes you feel like it’s your fault.”
The source said the TV star would need to take some time to reflect if he wants to avoid future disputes.
“It’s a matter of respect, and it’s a two-way street that James doesn’t always respect, so this will continue to happen until he changes his own attitude and approach,” they said.
On her podcast, Miss Me?, Allen, 39, said: ‘Yeah, James Corden was kind of a close friend of mine…’
The Smile singer said she met the Gavin and Stacey actor on her talk show in 2008, where he was “very flirtatious” with her (seen on the show).
Corden’s dispute with Allen is the latest in a long line of accusations about his diva-like behavior in recent years.
Last year, he was sensationally banned from New York restaurant Balthazar after its owner Keith McNally claimed the divisive TV presenter had been “extremely rude” to staff on two separate occasions.
Despite initially dismissing the drama as “silly,” Corden later apologized.
“I made a rude comment and it was wrong,” she said. “It was an unnecessary comment. It was rude to the waiter.”
Six months later, director Craig Duncan (who worked with Corden on a British game show in 2013) fanned the flames by launching a particularly personal attack on the comedian.
Duncan called him the “most difficult and unpleasant presenter” he had ever worked with. Corden, he claimed, insulted staff on set and called Duncan “stupid.”
“I hope I never work with (Corden) again,” Duncan added.
Meanwhile, during her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother in March, Sharon Osbourne labelled Corden “a braggart”.
“I’ll tell you who does that, James Corden. He does it all the time,” he said.
The reality star claimed Corden liked to tell people what designer clothes he owns and also thought he “played the LA game” when he left the UK for Hollywood.
She said: “I went up to him and said, ‘I really like your shoes,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, Stella McCartney.’ I said, ‘I didn’t ask you who made them, I just said I like your shoes. It played really well in LA.'”
Last month, Allen sparked controversy when she claimed Corden was a “supplicant friend” after he accused her of cheating on him when he “definitely wasn’t.”
The Smile singer claimed he had been “very flirtatious” with her on her talk show Lily Allen and Friends in 2008 and explained that they later dated for a brief and “confusing” period of time.
According to the musician, Corden misread the signs and wrote in his book that she had cheated on him.
“Yeah, James Corden was kind of a close friend of mine,” she said. “James Corden came on my talk show and was really flirtatious with me. We became friends and I introduced him to a bunch of my friends.”
A ‘beggar friend’ is described as a person who ‘begs’ for your attention in the hopes of forming a friendship.
The mother-of-two continued: ‘I think he wrote about that in his book, that I was cheating on him or something, which I definitely wasn’t.
‘I think in his mind, maybe it lasted a little longer.
“But yeah, I would say if I ever had a famous homeless friend, it was James Corden back in the day.”
Allen added: “He doesn’t beg me anymore. I don’t beg him either. I can’t do anything for him now, he’s fine.”
The source added: “He believes he has never been desperate and deserves better and is pretty much over people talking about him in a negative way.”
Corden wrote of Allen in his 2011 memoir: “She’s confident, funny and smart. I think I went out with Lily about four or five times in total, and not once was it a formal date.”
“It always seemed to involve other people and not just the two of us.”
He wrote that “the reality hit home” when he was with Allen at his house with a couple of friends.
Allen then apparently said she was going to sleep, so Corden walked her upstairs, where she walked him to the guest bedroom and said goodnight.
“I’ve never felt so stupid,” he wrote. “Who was I trying to fool? I remember lying in bed and realizing how much I had misread the signals. There was no Lily and me, it was all in my mind.”
Allen had previously said she felt as though Corden “made a pass at her” during the television interview on her BBC Three chat show.
In the episode, Corden told Allen: ‘Listen, ignore all those people over there, okay? And I don’t know you…’
Allen previously said she felt as though Corden “made a pass at her” during a television interview on her BBC Three talk show.
In 2017, Allen said she had been unable to “shut her up” in the past because she would have been labelled “cold” or “snobby”.
Allen then interrupted him and joked, “Just fuck me… no, no,” causing the audience to burst into laughter and applause.
Then he said, “Thank you very much… that’s how you get a girl’s pants on. Well done, well done, James. Are you single right now?”
He replied: “Complicated… no, I am, yes.”
In 2017, Allen claimed she couldn’t “shut up” at the time because she would have been labeled “cold” or “snobby.”
When someone tweeted at her saying they were “hot for James Corden” along with a link to the episode he appeared in, she replied, “No, I wasn’t hot for James Corden either.”
“He made advances on me in front of the studio audience. If I had turned him down, I would have been labelled cold, conceited or snobby.”
DailyMail.com has reached out to a representative for James Corden for comment.