Patti LuPone Ignites Broadway Backlash With Remarks On Audra McDonald And Kecia Lewis

LuPone’s harsh words on the two Tony winners in an interview with The New Yorker shocked fans and colleagues in the theater world.

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Patti LuPone has left many in the theater community aghast after she took aim at fellow Broadway actors Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald in an eyebrow-raising interview.

A three-time Tony Award winner, LuPone spoke to The New Yorker this week in advance of her guest appearance on HBO Max’s third season of “And Just Like That...,” which premieres Thursday.

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In her chat with journalist Michael Schulman, LuPone was asked about a 2024 incident in which she criticized the volume of sound cues in Alicia Keys’ musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” which features a predominately Black cast. At the time, LuPone was starring alongside Mia Farrow in the play “The Roommate” in a neighboring theater. She alleged that certain sounds in “Hell’s Kitchen” were audible through the wall separating the two theaters.

The “Hell’s Kitchen” stage management team responded by adjusting the production’s volume, after which LuPone sent flowers. Lewis, a Black actor who won a Tony for her portrayal of Miss Liza Jane in “Hell’s Kitchen,” went on to accuse LuPone of “bullying” and “racially microaggressive” behavior in a lengthy Instagram video.

"Hell's Kitchen" actor Kecia Lewis, right, accused Patti LuPone of "bullying" and “racially microaggressive” behavior in 2024.

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When asked by The New Yorker about Lewis’ remarks, LuPone didn’t hold back.

“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. “She’s done seven. I’ve done thirty-one. Don’t call yourself a vet, bitch.”

In the article, Schulman clarifies Lewis ― who has appeared in “Dreamgirls” and “Chicago,” among other musicals ― actually has 10 Broadway credits to LuPone’s 28. When told McDonald, a six-time Tony winner, had responded to Lewis’ video with supportive emojis, LuPone offered a similar rebuke.

“Exactly,” she said. “And I thought, You should know better. That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend.”

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LuPone didn’t delve into specifics of what The New Yorker described as her “long-ago rift” with McDonald, with whom she’s shared the stage on several occasions. Asked about McDonald’s Tony-nominated performance in the current revival of “Gypsy,” however, she reportedly stared in silence for 15 seconds before turning to a window and saying with a sigh, “What a beautiful day.”

McDonald’s portrayal of Mama Rose in the current production of “Gypsy” marks the first time the character has been played by a Black actor on Broadway. LuPone starred as Mama Rose in the 2008 Broadway production, winning a Tony Award.

Representatives for Lewis and McDonald did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on LuPone’s remarks.

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Audra McDonald, left, and LuPone in 2011. LuPone's sharp words about McDonald in a recent interview has led to blowback from many in the theater community.

Bruce Glikas via Getty Images

LuPone has been enjoying a professional renaissance, winning her third Tony in 2022 for the musical “Company” and receiving on-screen acclaim for “American Horror Story” and “Agatha All Along,” among other films and TV series.

Along the way, however, she’s repeatedly stoked controversy for her less-than-favorable assessments of Glenn Close and Madonna, among other stars, as well as the theater industry as a whole.

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Despite LuPone’s history of sharp-tongued commentary, her comments on Lewis and McDonald have drawn a particularly frosty response.

“White privilege is the audacity to be quoted in a major publication flippantly discrediting our Black Broadway Queens ― while calling them a name you’d dare never to whisper to their face,” actor and playwright Douglas Lyons wrote Monday on X, formerly Twitter. “I think Ms. Lupone is a remarkable talent, but 31 Broadway shows obviously doesn’t equal class.”

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Theater blogger Chris Peterson felt similarly, noting LuPone’s remarks “reinforce a dynamic that’s been harmful for a long time.”

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“The saddest part is, Patti didn’t have to say any of this. And what’s worse — she wanted to,” he wrote.

In addition to “And Just Like That...,” LuPone will next be seen in the second season of the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale.” She’s also slated to appear in “The Artist,” a murder-mystery series co-starring Hank Azaria and Zachary Quinto, later this year.

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