Oprah seemingly threw shade at Patti LuPone during the Tony Awards
Oprah seemingly threw shade at Patti LuPone during the Tony Awards
The 2025 Tony Awards paid very little mind to the recent Patti LuPone controversy that made waves in the Broadway community recently, but Oprah Winfrey was seemingly the only one to make reference to it during Sunday night's show.
In the lead-up to this year's Tony Awards, LuPone made incredibly disparaging remarks about six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and fellow Tony-winner Kecia Lewis in a New Yorker profile. The Broadway community was furious at the slight, so much so that LuPone eventually apologized for the comments, stating "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".
Broadway actors such as James Monroe Iglehart and others were asked about the controversy on the Tonys' red carpet, but the show itself steered pretty clear of the topic for the majority of the night. That is until Oprah took the stage to announce the winners of Best Actress in a Musical, where McDonald was nominated. In the lead-up to announcing the winner, Oprah seemingly threw shade at LuPone and the "lively conversations among theater fans" that ensued.
"Lotta talking going on" indeed!
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But especially with live theater, there's no substitution for getting into a space together and experiencing one thing and being affected and being open to it. So I'm really excited that John Proctor and Romeo + Juliet and all of these pieces are resonating with young people. We have a lot of Gen Z people resonating with Maybe Happy Ending. There is an accessibility issue. Tickets keep getting more and more expensive, and that's just tough, because it's for the people and shouldn't be gatekept from people just because of prices. But there's rush and there's ways that people are trying to make it more affordable and lower that accessibility. I would say just get in a rush line, see something and think about it and form your own opinion about it. It's irreplaceable. HS: Well, first of all, in their creative collaboration, [co-writers] Will and Hue are very Claire and Oliver-coded. They do switch off between which one's which. Will is more Oliver and Hue is more Claire. 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