Latest news with #KeciaLewis
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patti LuPone Apologizes for Interview Comments About Kecia Lewis, Audra McDonald: 'I Am Devastated'
Patti LuPone is apologizing for the recent comments she made in a New Yorker profile about Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis that's had the theater world buzzing. 'For as long as I have worked in the theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologized. That is changing today. I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful,' she wrote on Instagram on Saturday. '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.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Audra McDonald Says She Didn't Know About "Rift" Between Her and Patti LuPone 'Gypsy' Theater Review: Audra McDonald Climbs the Mountain of One of the All-Time Greatest Musicals and Plants a Triumphant Flag Kecia Lewis Says Patti LuPone Calling 'Hell's Kitchen' "Too Loud" Is "Racially Microaggresive," Requests Apology '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,' LuPone continued. 'I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.' The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Lewis and McDonald's reps for comment. On Friday, Playbill reported that there was a letter that over 500 Broadway performers signed reprimanding LuPone's behavior. The letter, in part, read that her comments were a 'persistent failure to hold people accountable for violent, disrespectful, or harmful behavior — especially when they are powerful or well-known.' Tony winners Wendell Pierce, James Monroe Iglehart and Maleah Joi Moon signed it, as well as Courtney Love. Last fall, while LuPone was starring in The Roommate, she complained about the musical next door, Hell's Kitchen, which Lewis was in, being 'too loud.' After that, Lewis took to Instagram to say that LuPone was 'bullying,' 'racially microaggressive' and 'rooted in privilege.' In the New Yorker interview, LuPone responded by saying, 'Here's the problem. She calls herself a veteran? Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about,' she said. 'Don't call yourself a vet, bitch.' LuPone also said McDonald was 'not a friend' and that they had a rift years ago. However, on Thursday, McDonald appeared on CBS Mornings to promote Gypsy and her 11th Tony nomination and said she was surprised by LuPone's comments. 'If there's a rift between us, I don't know what it is. That's something you'd have to ask Patti about,' she said. 'I haven't seen her in about 11 years because I've been busy with life and stuff.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter From 'Lady in the Lake' to 'It Ends With Us': 29 New and Upcoming Book Adaptations in 2024 Meet the Superstars Who Glam Up Hollywood's A-List Rosie O'Donnell on Ellen, Madonna, Trump and 40 Years in the Queer Spotlight
NBC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Patti LuPone apologizes after controversial comments on Kecia Lewis, Audra McDonald
Broadway legend Patti Lupone apologized for controversial comments she made about Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald in a "New Yorker" magazine interview. NBC News' Yasmin Vassoughian reports how the comments led hundreds of performers to sign an open letter calling for Lupone's ban from the Tonys. June 3, 2025
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The diva who went to war with Andrew Lloyd Webber is back – and tearing Broadway apart
It might be a sign of the impending apocalypse. At the very least it's against all laws of nature. On May 31, veteran American actress Patti LuPone – the combative, unrepentant and famously grudge-holding Broadway diva who has picked fights with everyone from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Donald Trump – shocked the theatre community by actually apologising for her fiery comments. Her latest broadside came last month in a characteristically frank interview with the New Yorker, reigniting a smouldering row. LuPone, 76, who recently co-starred with Mia Farrow in Broadway play The Roommate, had complained to the management that the Alicia Keys musical Hell's Kitchen, which occupied the neighbouring theatre, was so loud the sound bled through the walls. African-American actress Kecia Lewis, a cast member of Hell's Kitchen, posted a video on Instagram in November 2024 addressing LuPone as a fellow 'veteran'. Lewis made the rather sensational claim that LuPone's actions were 'bullying', 'offensive', 'racially microaggressive' and 'rooted in privilege', because she had 'labelled a Black show loud'. When asked about Lewis's video by the New Yorker, LuPone did not hold back. 'She calls herself a veteran? Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the f--- she's talking about.' After comparing the number of productions they've performed in, LuPone said: 'Don't call yourself a vet, b–tch.' LuPone then directed her wrath at the acclaimed African-American actress Audra McDonald, who had posted supportive emojis to Lewis's video. 'I thought You should know better,' said LuPone of McDonald's response. 'That's typical of Audra. She's not a friend.' Theatre fans normally love a juicy row, but this one prompted an immediate and distinctly po-faced backlash. More than 500 Broadway artists signed an open letter labelling LuPone's comments 'degrading and misogynistic – a blatant act of racialized disrespect'. The letter called on the American Theatre Wing to disinvite her from the Tony Awards, and compared her actions to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars (which got him a 10-year ban). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Patti LuPone (@pattilupone) On Saturday LuPone backed down. She posted a statement on Instagram saying she was 'deeply sorry' for her 'flippant and emotional responses' in the interview, adding that she would apologise personally to Lewis and McDonald. It's a rare concession from LuPone, but perhaps the sheer number of industry figures massing against her forced her hand. Her opponents in this particular spat were also ill-chosen: the considerably less-powerful, but well-respected, Lewis, and the dignified, universally adored McDonald, who seemed bewildered by talk of a feud. When asked about it on CBS Sunday Morning, McDonald said: 'If there's a rift between us, I don't know what it is.' Presumably that will end the matter, to the relief of most, although some may feel secretly disappointed that LuPone has done the full mea culpa. After all, being a take-no-prisoners, old-school broad is very much her brand – in stark contrast to the current generation of virtue-signalling celebrities who are afraid of saying anything remotely interesting. In this recent interview, LuPone takes potshots at her 'lothario' ex Kevin Kline and former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin (one of 'the stupidest human beings on the face of the earth'). She also declares that the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, which President Trump has commandeered, should 'get blown up'. Her hatred of Trump is long-established. In 2017, on the Tony Awards red carpet, she asserted that she would never perform for him and, when asked why, shot back: 'Because I hate the motherf---er, how's that?'. In a 2020 interview she said Trump was 'the worst president in my lifetime', declared she wanted to leave the country if he got re-elected, and called him and Senator Mitch McConnell 'f---ing assholes [and] f---ing douchebags'. It's notable that when LuPone is squaring up to the President, she is hailed (by Democrat voters at least) as courageous, not a bully. One wag on X even started the very believable rumour that the similarly prickly actress Frances McDormand was set to play LuPone in a movie biopic. Her most infamous feud involves another powerful man: Andrew Lloyd Webber. In 1993 LuPone starred in the original West End production of his musical Sunset Boulevard, playing faded silent screen actress Norma Desmond. She was due to transfer with the show to America, but instead was unceremoniously fired and replaced by Glenn Close. LuPone did not take it well. As she wrote in her memoir, she 'took batting practice' to every object in her dressing room and 'heaved the lamp out the second-floor window'. She then sued the composer, won $1 million, used it to build a swimming pool at her Connecticut house, and christened it the 'Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool'. That moniker is an example of LuPone's devastating, barbed wit. Isn't that what we want from our divas: sass and swaggering bravado, rather than hand-wringing and bland compliments? It's a throwback to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when Joan Crawford waged war against Bette Davis (the latter is LuPone's heroine), or sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine were at each other's throats – and it certainly adds to LuPone's icon status among gay theatre fans. LuPone's takedowns are blistering. She is utterly merciless in her assessment of Madonna, who starred as Eva Peron in the movie version of Evita – a role LuPone played on stage. In 2017 she declared: 'Madonna is a movie killer. She's dead behind the eyes. She can't act her way out of a paper bag.' Nor, after all these years, has she forgiven Lloyd Webber (in 2019 she called him 'a sad sack') or Close. Speaking in the New Yorker, LuPone described sitting next to Close at an event. When Close told her she had 'nothing to do' with the Sunset Boulevard casting drama, LuPone said: 'I wanted to go, 'Bulls---, b–tch!'. No one is safe from her withering gaze. In her memoir, she says of an aggressive cast member in musical The Baker's Wife: 'I know there are two sides to every story, but believe me, both sides thought he was an asshole.' LuPone is most cheer-worthy when fighting back against bad audience behaviour in the theatre. In 2015 she was so infuriated by a woman who was blatantly texting that she snatched the phone from her hands. That intervention is now immortalised on Urban Dictionary as a verb: 'luponed'. Afterwards LuPone raged against the 'rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones', adding that she was putting 'battle gear on over my costume to marshal the audience'. Such talk is largely forgiven, or even celebrated, in LuPone's case because she will always be one of the great performers of her generation, a true musical theatre legend, no matter how much sniping she does. Besides, her attitude matches the characters that she often inhabits: formidably ambitious grafters like Eva Peron or Momma Rose in Gypsy. It's a steel forged by her upbringing in an Italian family in Long Island, New York, and then by a tough industry. In 2018 she shrugged off the 'diva' tag, saying: 'It's just because women are supposed to shut up, or not think those thoughts or talk back. It's crazy. But talking back is something I've done since I was a little girl.' She then quipped, addressing her reputation for being difficult: 'Why complain about someone who delivers?'. She's worth all the drama and she knows it. LuPone has never been afraid to call out big beasts in theatre, such as her Evita director Hal Prince. In 2018 she called him 'the cruellest director I've ever worked with'. She's blasted actors who rely on microphones while on stage, and has bemoaned the current state of Broadway on multiple occasions, saying in 2020 that it featured 'a bunch of trash. It's become Las Vegas.' Many wholeheartedly agree with her; few would dare say it publicly. Whether settling scores or speaking truth to power, LuPone has guts – and that is a vanishingly rare commodity. Perhaps she went too far this time, but the world would be a much duller place if she ever learnt to hold her tongue.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patti Lupone apologizes for ‘disrespectful' comments made about fellow Broadway actors during New Yorker interview
Patti Lupone has issued an apology after making what she now describes as 'demeaning and disrespectful' comments about two fellow Broadway stars in an interview with the New Yorker last week. The 'Evita' star's apology comes after hundreds of performers from the Broadway and theater communities issued an open letter first published by Playbill and called for accountability in light of Lupone's 'deeply inappropriate and unacceptable public comments' about Broadway stars Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald. In the interview, Lupone referred to Lewis as a 'b*tch' and said McDonald was 'not a friend,' prompting a wave of backlash against the notoriously thorny legend. Lupone had previously had public spats with both performers. '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 in a statement posted to her Instagram page Saturday. '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.' Lupone added that she hopes 'to have the chance to speak to' McDonald and Lewis personally to offer her 'sincere apologies.' The letter, which was issued to the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, also called upon the institutions to take action by not welcoming Lupone at 'industry events,' including the Tony Awards, which are presented by the two institutions. 'This language is not only degrading and misogynistic—it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect. It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment,' the letter stated. 'It is emblematic of the microaggressions and abuse that people in this industry have endured for far too long, too often without consequence.' The Tony Awards are set to take place June 8. In her apology on Saturday, Lupone wrote that she 'wholeheartedly' agreed with 'everything that was written' in the open letter. '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,' Lupone wrote. 'I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.' CNN has reached out to representatives for Lupone, Lewis and McDonald for comment. In the New Yorker interview, Lupone was asked about an incident that happened last year when Lewis posted a video to her Instagram page asking for an apology from Lupone after she had called 'Hell's Kitchen,' the stage production in which Lewis stars, 'too loud.' She said Lupone, who was at the time starring in 'The Roommate' in the theater next to 'Hell's Kitchen,' had requested that the latter's sound department make adjustments. In Lewis' video, she called herself and Lupone veterans in the industry and said Lupone's actions were 'offensive' and 'racially microaggressive.' When asked about the incident by the New Yorker, Lupone responded: 'Don't call yourself a vet, b*tch.' 'This is not unusual on Broadway. This happens all the time when walls are shared,' she added. Lupone also reacted to McDonald showing support for Lewis in the comments section of the video, telling the New Yorker she thought 'that's typical of Audra.' 'She's not a friend,' she said. McDonald was asked about Lupone's comments on 'CBS This Morning' on Thursday, but seemingly took the high road. 'If there's a rift between us, I don't know what it is,' she said. 'That's something that you'd have to ask Patti about.'
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Patti LuPone apologises after ‘bullying' accusations from Broadway peers: ‘I made a mistake'
Patti LuPone has issued an apology after the Broadway community called her out for 'bullying' following her recent comments in the New Yorker. 'For as long as I have worked in the theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologised. That is changing today,' LuPone wrote in a statement shared to her Instagram. 'I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful.' The actress added that she feels 'regret' over her 'flippant' and 'emotional' comments about her colleagues, which she called 'inappropriate.' 'I am devastated that my behaviour has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak with Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies,' she continued. She concluded by saying that she 'wholeheartedly' agrees with the open letter written by her Broadway peers. 'From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel like they don't belong anywhere else,' LuPone wrote. '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, 76, faced the backlash after she lambasted fellow Broadway stars Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis in her New Yorker profile published Monday. 'She's not a friend,' LuPone said of McDonald. She also declined to share her thoughts on McDonald's performance as Mama Rose in 'Gypsy.' LuPone also called Lewis a 'bitch' as she criticised her for referring to herself as a Broadway veteran. 'Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the f**k she's talking about,' LuPone said. 'She's done seven. I've done 31. Don't call yourself a vet, b***h!' McDonald later skilfully addressed her alleged feud with LuPone in a preview from her CBS Mornings interview. 'If there's a rift between us, I don't know what it is,' the Private Practice star said. 'That's something you'd have to ask Patti about,' McDonald, 54, added. Over 500 Broadway artists then came together to issue a scathing response to LuPone in an open letter shared Friday. 'Recently, Patti LuPone made deeply inappropriate and unacceptable public comments about two of Broadway's most respected and beloved artists,' the letter read, calling LuPone's comments 'degrading and misogynistic' and 'a blatant act of racialised disrespect.'
