Patti LuPone's drama is dividing the Broadway community ahead of the Tony Awards

CNN

11 hours ago

Patti LuPone may have apologized for some recent controversial remarks, but that doesn't mean the curtain has dropped on the drama.
The actress sparked a major backlash after disparaging comments she made about fellow Broadway stars Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald in a recent interview with the New Yorker.
LuPone referred to Lewis as a 'b**ch' and said McDonald was 'not a friend.'
Hundreds of performers from Broadway and other theater communities then wrote a letter in which they characterized LuPone's comments as 'degrading and misogynistic—it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect.'
'It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment,' they wrote. 'It is emblematic of the microaggressions and abuse that people in this industry have endured for far too long, too often without consequence.'
The group called for LuPone to be disinvited from industry events, including Sunday's Tony Awards.
LuPone apologized last weekend on social media, posting a statement in which she said she hoped to be able to speak with the pair to make 'sincere apologies.'
'I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful,' Lupone wrote. '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.'
The controversy ahead of the Tony Awards has raised interest in the event, sparking conversation about whether LuPone, who has long reigned as Broadway star, will make an appearance.
But not everyone feels harshly towards her.
Actress Mia Farrow has garned a Tony nomination for the Broadway play 'The Roommate' in which she costars with LuPone. In a recently published interview with Deadline, Farrow talked about her 30-year friendship with the woman she dubbed the 'goddess of Broadway.'
'We live near each other. Always have. Two of our kids were in the same class at school, at the same school, her son and my son, and I met her on New Year's Eve, actually,' Farrow told the publication. 'She and her husband gave a New Year's Eve party, and Steve Sondheim, who was one of my oldest friends, 50 years, he invited me to come to the party at Patti's 30 years ago, and that's how I met Patti.'
Farrow, who mentioned the New Yorker interview in her conversation with Deadline without addressing the controversy, said working with her neighbor and friend was a positive experience.
'Patti and I never had a negative moment, by the way,' Farrow said. 'Working together didn't change our friendship. I think our friendship is deeper now.'
'Abbott Elementary' star Sheryl Lee Ralph, who is also a decorated Broadway performer, most notably playing the role of Deena Jones in the original 1981 production of 'Dreamgirls,' weighed in as well.
'Why not be nice?' Ralph said of LuPone.
And while Ralph said she was 'not going to judge' LuPone, she did have some words of wisdom for the 'Evita' star.
'It was a moment where maybe you want to zip it,' she said. 'Inner thoughts don't always have to be outer thoughts, that might have been one of those moments.'
British weekly conservative magazine writer Ella Whelan penned a piece with the headline, 'Patti LuPone is a diva – not a racist.'
'LuPone is notorious for putting the broad in Broadway – her loud mouth is infamous,' Whelan wrote, noting some of her other outspoken comments.
'Forget white privilege, this is diva privilege – when you're that good an entertainer, you can pretty much say what you want,' Whelan added.
The 78th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by 'Wicked' film star and Tony, Grammy and Emmy award-winner Cynthia Erivo, will be broadcast live on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+ in the US.