James Corden Says People Believe He Was Fired From ‘Late Late Show’

When James Corden bid farewell to hosting The Late Late Show last year, he would later learn that many believed he was actually fired from the gig.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, the former late night host reflected on how life in London has been since walking away from hosting duties.

“You don’t understand how institutionalized you are. It’s extraordinary. But it’s like, you’re institutionalized in a world where you get a standing ovation at the end of every day. And that is — what I’ve realized — is it’s really bad for you,” he told Jimmy Kimmel.

After he and his family returned to the U.K. post-show — a decision Corden said was made so his children could be closer to family — he admitted that though “people are very nice … no one believes that I wasn’t fired.”

He explained, “I’ll be in a pub or something and people will be like … ‘So why’d you come back?’ and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, ’cause Max has finished sixth grade and we really wanted him to have a relationship with his grandparents,’” he recalled. “And people will honestly be like, ‘You don’t have to give me that bullshit. It’s fine, mate. If you got fired, you got fired.’”

Corden said he thinks people don’t believe he would walk away from the show willingly because  “nobody thinks you would ever leave what is — let’s be honest — a cushy existence.”

When Kimmel suggested Corden get a letter from CBS confirming he was not fired, Corden replied, “I would, except they don’t know what CBS is. So they’ll go, ‘Well, that’s not a real thing.’ And then I have to tell them what the show was, and they’ll go, ‘Hang on, it was on at 12:30 at night. That’s a ridiculous time to put a TV show on.’”

It was announced in 2022 that the 2023 season would be Corden’s last run as the host of CBS’ The Late Late Show after eight years. When addressing his decision at the time in a monologue, Corden explained, “When I started this journey, it was always going to be just that. It was going to be a journey, an adventure. I never saw it as my final destination, you know? And I never want this show to overstay its welcome in any way. I always want to love making it. And I really think in a year from now that will be a good time to move on and see what else might be out there.”