Patti LuPone Apologizes Kecia Lewis, Audra McDonald New Yorker Remarks

Patti LuPone has apologized for comments she made about Audra McDonald and “Hell’s Kitchen” star Kecia Lewis in a recent New Yorker interview.

“For as long as I have worked in theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologized,” LuPone wrote in an Instagram post Saturday. “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. 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.”

She continued, “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.”

The theater icon’s caustic remarks, in which she called Lewis a “bitch” and stated that there was a feud between her and McDonald, have rocked the Broadway community, with more than 500 performers and artists calling on the Tony Awards in an open letter to disinvite LuPone.

In the New Yorker piece, which was published on May 26, LuPone addressed issues that arose last fall when she was appearing on Broadway in “The Roommate.” The Booth Theatre, where the show was performed, shared a wall with the Shubert Theatre, where the Alicia Keys musical “Hell’s Kitchen” was also being staged. LuPone complained to the head of the Shubert Organization about the loud noises that she could hear from next door, and sent flowers to the cast and crew of “Hell’s Kitchen” when the volume was lowered. But she was later criticized on social media by Lewis, who said LuPone’s behavior was “bullying” and “racially microaggressive.” McDonald liked Lewis’ message.

When LuPone was asked by the New Yorker about Lewis’ post, she questioned whether or not Lewis, who won a Tony for “Hell’s Kitchen” and has appeared frequently on stage, was a Broadway veteran. In the same interview she shaded McDonald’s work in “Gypsy,” taking on a role for which LuPone won her second of three Tony Awards. McDonald has won a record-setting six Tonys.

In the letter, 500 performers, including Tony winners James Monroe Iglehart, J. Harrison Ghee and Maleah Joi Moon, criticized LuPone’s comments.

“No artist, producer, director, or leader — regardless of legacy or celebrity — should be allowed to weaponize their platform to belittle, threaten, or devalue others without consequence,” the letter reads.

The open letter also faults LuPone for her “bullying” comments about Lewis, calling them “degrading and misogynistic” as well as “a blatant act of racialized disrespect.”

In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, McDonald addressed LuPone’s telling the New Yorker writer that the pair were not friends.

“If there’s a rift between us, I don’t know what it is,” McDonald said. “That’s something you’d have to ask Patti about. You know, I haven’t seen her in about 11 years, just because we’ve been busy just with life. So I don’t know what rift she’s talking about, but you’d have to ask her.” 

LuPone has appeared on Broadway in “Evita,” “War Paint,” “Sweeney Todd,” and “Company.” She has also made headlines over the years for her candor, feuding with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Close after she was passed over for the Broadway production of “Sunset Boulevard,” and branding Madonna, who starred in the film version of “Evita,” as “a movie killer.”