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James Corden has apologised for ‘inadvertently’ stealing a famous Ricky Gervais joke ‘word for word’ on his talk show.
The Late Late Show host has had a difficult few weeks after being barred from a New York restaurant for being ‘the most abusive customer’ they’ve had.
Following Balthazar owner Keith McNally publicly called out Corden on Instagram, he apologised live on his chat show after initially denying he did anything wrong.
Watch James Corden apologise live on air about the restaurant incident below…
Just as he has escaped one allegation, it now seems he has been hit with a new accusation.
During a recent monologue on The Late Late Show, Corden was discussing Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and how he is apparently making people pay to have a blue tick next to their name (a symbol to show you’re verified on the platform).
He brought up how the Tesla CEO has been describing the social media site as a ‘digital town square’.
“It isn’t,” Corden expressed.
The Gavin & Stacey star continued: “Because if someone puts up a poster in a town square that says ‘Guitar lessons available’, you don’t get people in the town going, ‘I don’t wanna play the guitar! I wanna play the piano you piece of s***!’.
“Well then that sign wasn’t for you, it was for somebody else. You don’t have to get mad about all of it.”
If any of you are Gervais fans, you’ll notice that this sounds similar to a joke the comedian made for his 2018 Netflix stand-up show Humanity.
People were quick to pick up on Corden and began to call him out, with one even putting a side-by-side comparison of the two.
Related Article: James Corden Defended By Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone After Being Labelled ‘Most Abusive Customer’
One person tweeted: “What is Corden playing at??? I used to like him in Gavin & Stacey but he’s becoming a total liability these days – totes out of touch.”
Another user wrote: “Surely he didn’t think he could do it without anyone (Gervais included) picking him up on it?”
“Not only did Corden steal the joke, but he couldn’t even do it well. Gervais has a million times better timing and charisma,” expressed a third individual.
Someone else shared: “It’s that delivery, ‘I don’t wanna play the guitar’. He even scrunches his face like Gervais. Really sad to realise he’s practised that in the mirror.”
Plagiarism? I don’t know what people are talking about, these two jokes by @JKCorden and @rickygervais are barely similar pic.twitter.com/9kYOHiOiLj
— Paul Anthony (@PaulFI9) November 1, 2022
Gervais even discussed it too, by retweeting Corden’s monologue with the caption: “The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.”
However, The Office star has since deleted the tweet because he felt ‘sorry’ for him.
When asked by a fan if the late-night host did it on purpose, Gervais responded: “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.”
Corden himself has also issued an apology, as he tweeted: “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. J x.”
Related Article: Ricky Gervais Says He’ll Report Fans For ‘Hate Crimes’
The pair do have a history of feuding though.
Gervais recently took aim at the Cats actor amid his recent ban from Balthazar restaurant by sharing a clip from his Netflix series After Life, in which they mention him by name when discussing dinner party guests.
The pair have even taken shots at each other on stage when hosting award ceremonies.
Gervais’ stint as the Golden Globes host has become a highlight reel in itself as he uses each opportunity to mock Hollywood and say exactly what he thinks.
Meanwhile, when Corden hosted the BRIT Awards in 2011, he told The Mirror he was going to avoid the ‘Ricky Gervais’ road.
He said: “I’m not going to go down the Ricky Gervais road because, well, you can’t in that room, anyway – there’s a big difference between the O2 and the dining room in the Beverly Hilton.
“Basically, I want to host the Brits with as much warmth and sensitivity as possible. Fewer gags.”
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