James Corden was banned from Balthazar, but there are many horror stories of famous customers - here's some of our favourites

This week James Corden was banned - and very quickly unbanned - from the iconic New York restaurant Balthazar after he allegedly acted like an arse to its waitstaff. If you frequent forums or other online haunts, this probably comes as no surprise - it's long been rumoured that The Late Late Show host is a downright diva. 

But the Gavin & Stacey comedian is far from the only celebrity to be called out for behaving badly towards hospitality workers. Anecdotes shared to Reddit and TikTok have previously labelled the likes of Jessica Alba, Rachel Ray, Mike Myers, Tommy Lee Jones and Hailey Bieber as rude or obnoxious, while John Goodman and Keanu Reeves are frequently hailed among the nicest famous faces around.

Following yet another anecdote about Corden's allegedly wayward ways, BuzzFeed collated several stories from its users about their experiences waiting on prominent patrons.

Of course, these stories are not verified and are told from the users' own perspective and personal experience. And more often than not, the more anecdotes you read, the more conflicting evidence you find - like anyone, of course, celebs can have bad days too. 

Here are some of the best stories from waitstaff about their good, bad and ugly experiences serving celebrities. 

• "I waited on quite a few celebrities in Portland. When Keanu Reeves and Vincent D'Onofrio were filming Thumbsucker, they came into our restaurant multiple times. They always sat on the patio where Keanu chainsmoked and barely ate. This was before social media, and word got out he was there. The street was packed with fans... Keanu spent plenty of time taking photos with people. He always tipped about 30-50 percent on very expensive tabs." - maplebow
• "Tiffany [Darwish] (of the '80s fame) was rude, demanding, and a terrible tipper." - mattr1016
• "Olivia Wilde did a shoot at my restaurant. We had banter, and it made my week. Such a nice woman." - mattr1016
• "Lana Wachowski [of the Wachowskis] was a semi-regular at the place I worked in Chicago and was one of the friendliest, most down-to-earth people I've ever met, let alone a celebrity. She was a good tipper, super friendly to the entire staff, and all around a nice person to be around." - joeyl13
• "Reese Witherspoon drank a bottle of wine by herself, got a little tipsy, and came out of the bathroom singing along to 'Hard to Handle' by the Black Crowes... She was drawing attention and high-fived people on her way back to the table. It was adorable." - maplebow
• "Bryan Cranston did a show with us one summer. The cast came to a staff BBQ, and he just plunked right down next to us to eat and was such a dad. He was super nice, super sweet... He ordered custom merch for all the staff as mementos and gave it out at the end of the show." - yeahokwhatevermeh
• "Judith Light [Ugly Betty, Dallas] is pure joy. She remembers her servers, and she is so kind and encouraging." - mattr1016
• "Ralph Fiennes was someone I served many times, and he was never chatty but always very polite and well-mannered. He was more friendly with some staff he saw more often." - nopersont
• "Magic Johnson came into Denny's at 3am during the 1999 Lakers vs Pacers finals. He was nice enough to sign autographs on his way to the closed-off section - which he paid US$50 to sit in - but didn't tip beyond that." - cindyjs
• "I was a bartender in the '90s, and one of the Baldwins came in. I don't know which one, but his daughter is married to Justin Bieber now [Stephen Baldwin, father to Hailey Bieber] The guy was awful. He was talking loudly on his phone (and this was the '90s, so this was NOT common) the whole time. It was lunchtime, so he had kids with him, which was fine... However, he let them run all over the bar without any supervision at all. He kept saying loudly, 'No pictures', which was weird because (1) none of us asked for one, and (2) none of us even had a camera. Anyway, he barely tipped us and was just kind of a jerk the whole time, though never overtly or directly rude. Maybe he was having a bad day with the kids or something, but let's just say there is a reason I never bothered figuring out who he was." - sallyg14
• "This summer, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn came into the restaurant I work in. They were SO NICE, so polite, and so down-to-earth... They even came into the kitchen to say hi and thank you to everyone working." - emilymasonb
• "The nicest people I ever waited on were Amanda Bynes (in 2005) and Robin Williams (in 2002)." - jenmas
• "John Goodman wanted a quiet spot. He ate basically where the staff would hide and eat... I didn't serve him, but the girl who did was in tears because of how nice he was and telling her to follow her dreams." - mattr1016

And here are some more anecdotes, as collected from Reddit:

• "[The] worst: Toss up between Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak or the DeMarcus cousins. Both were very cold and rude to our staff and other guests. They also both oddly had other people speak on their behalf to their servers. Lil Jon [was] a very nice and funny guy! Super appreciative and hyped up every drink & food item that came to the table. Also took pictures with everyone that asked." - ReluctantlySocialGuy
• "Funniest one was when The Who showed up with no reservation after their show and did not appreciate they had to wait 10 minutes (gasp) while we made room for them. Their manager (?) yelled at us, 'Do you know who this is? It's Roger. F**king. Daltrey!' while most of the younger kitchen guys had no clue who they were. Maybe in your ge-ge-ge-neration Roger." - hopelesscaribou
• "I regularly served Tobey Maguire at my last job and he was really nice and tipped really well every time he came. He even remembered my name (and a lot of the other long-term staff) and would always greet us really kindly and stay out of the way - wouldn't make a fuss if the kitchen or bar were backed up. I also met Alex Skaarsgard at this same job and he was really nice too!" - doonbroonz
• "I was a cocktail waitress at a nightclub in Vegas in the mid-2000s. Rihanna came in to perform one night and she smoked a blunt with the entire staff and tipped us really well." - [deleted]
• "Robert Plant [Led Zeppelin]. Very chill, he had a Philly cheesesteak with no bread and tipped 20 percent. He was messing with the bartender, a younger girl. He told her he was in a band and she asked, 'is it a band I might have heard of?' And he's like, 'no, probably not, we never hit it that big'." - siliconbased9
• "I served Gordon Ramsay once, I was very nervous because of his TV persona but he was actually very polite, probably the most polite customer I've ever had, he didn't even tell anyone to f**k off. At the end of the night he requested to see the head chef and shook his hand in appreciation and tipped us £100." - scraps120
• "I served Snoop Dogg about 10 years ago. He tried to order Dom Pérignon, which we didn't have, but he settled for a Sprite. He was there with three girls. I couldn't understand a word he said but he ordered two meals for himself. His girls had to 'translate' for him. Overall he was polite and nice. He even signed autographs for a couple kids (and my star-struck manager). I felt bad because he just wanted to have dinner and people were bombarding him." - whiskeypetes
• "Brandy: One of the worst people ever. She came in once a week or so, almost never tipped, almost always complained, and was truly an evil nightmare." - Iamurfriend
• "I had the opportunity to wait on Eddie Vedder - Pearl Jam is my favourite band so I was totally starstruck. I waited until after he was done eating so as not to be a bother, went up and said, 'I really appreciate you and your music, thanks'. He made great eye contact and just said, 'Rock on, man!' It was perfect!" - Somacow
• "My godsister waited on Beyonce and Jay-Z and she said that they are very kind, friendly, and tipped 100 percent of the bill." - BarbaraGordonsspine
• "Tyra Banks - she came in and sat down. Now usually I never acknowledge a celebrity because I always assume they want to be treated just like any other customer. Ms Banks here threw a fit when I did not verbally recognise her and caused quite a scene. My co-worker told me of another instance shortly after where she walked into the restaurant, looked around, and then stormed out." - BLACKEDOUTDRUNK
• "Work at a film studio. Mike Myers filmed Love Guru with us. Total asshole. We were given rules we had to follow when he was in the room, no one was allowed to talk or look at him. Even passing him in the hallway, no eye contact. He would walk through the building and throw trash on the ground... We all cheered when that movie flopped." - [deleted]
• "Cameron Diaz and a friend of hers came in and had lunch on a slow day. Sweetest lady ever. I'm completely of the opinion that she's not acting in her movies in the 'girl next door' role, that truly is her personality. She was so kind and polite. There were a bunch of teen models doing a photoshoot for Seventeen magazine on property (the restaurant is inside the lobby of a hotel) and they managed to get to the table to ask for autographs and photos before I could stop them... Cameron very kindly thanked them for being fans, but said she was having lunch and she didn't do things like that when she was with friends and apologised. I thought the way she handled it was completely classy and polite when she was well within her rights to be annoyed." - LunarChild
• "Bill Clinton bumped me into a table, causing me to spill wine. He grabbed my shoulder and announced to the table that the blunder was his, but 'now you get to say an ex-President spilled wine on you'. I was disappointed he didn't say, 'now you get to say an ex-President got you wet'." - [deleted]

Some responses have been lightly edited for length and/or clarity.