Following an industry uproar, and the release of an open letter signed by over 600 Broadway artists, Patti LuPone has apologized for her recent comments about fellow Broadway actors Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald.
In a statement to her social media accounts, the three-time Tony winner admitted that she has "never apologized" to anyone. "That is changing today," she writes.
"I am deeply sorry for the words I used during interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful. I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies.
"I wholeheartedly agree with everything that was written in the open letter shared yesterday. From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don't belong anywhere else. I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better."
LuPone's statement puts to bed a feud that began last year, when LuPone was on Broadway in The Roommate, a show that shared a wall with Hell's Kitchen, where Lewis was (and is) giving her Tony-winning performance in the Alicia Keys musical. There was a noise complaint, where the cast of The Roommate asked if the Hell's Kitchen sound design could be modified to minimize sound bleed. After a video of LuPone disparaging Hell's Kitchen for being loud made the rounds on social media, Lewis took to Instagram to ask for an apology from LuPone, saying that calling a show with a majority Black cast loud was a "microaggression."
When asked about the incident in the New Yorker, LuPone took issue with Lewis calling herself a "veteran," saying, "Let鈥檚 find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn鈥檛 know what the fuck she鈥檚 talking about...She鈥檚 done seven. I鈥檝e done 31. Don鈥檛 call yourself a vet, bitch.鈥� (Lewis has actually done 10 shows and LuPone has done 28 shows, though Lewis is younger than LuPone, having made her debut in the '80s). LuPone then added about the noise issue: 鈥淭his is not unusual on Broadway. This happens all the time when walls are shared.鈥�
New Yorker writer Michael Schulman then brought up Audra McDonald, who had supported Lewis' video. And LuPone said: 鈥淎nd I thought, You should know better. That鈥檚 typical of Audra. She鈥檚 not a friend." She added that the two had a rift, which she declined to elaborate on.
Schulman then asked LuPone what she thought of McDonald's performance in Gypsy (a show that LuPone had also starred in on Broadway and won a Tony for), and the former Madame Rose declined to answer the question.
, Gayle King asked McDonald to respond to LuPone's comments, to which the six-time Tony winner said: "If there is a rift between us, I don't know what it is. That's something you would have to ask Patti about. I haven't seen her in about 11 years just because we've been busy, just with life and stuff. So I don't know what rift she's talking about, but you'd have to ask her." Lewis has notably not made any public response to LuPone's comments.
LuPone's comments have garnered passionate responses throughout the theatrical community, with everyone from Viola Davis to Donna Murphy weighing in鈥攁nd the majority support Lewis and McDonald. An open letter, signed by (at this time) over 600 Broadway artists, called on LuPone to be disinvited from the Tony Awards.
Throughout her career, LuPone has established a reputation for being brutally honest. In the 6,000-word New Yorker profile, she said that the Kennedy Center under President Trump 鈥渟hould get blown up," called Glenn Close a "bitch" (making it clear she hadn't forgiven Close for starring in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway, a part that had been promised to LuPone), and that she was done with Broadway (which she has said many times before her most recent Broadway show).
LuPone has never walked back any of her comments about any entity or person that she dislikes鈥攚hether it was , Actors' Equity Association, or. So this apology does mark a first for LuPone.
