Veteran stage actress Patti LuPone has apologised after a backlash over remarks she made about fellow Broadway stars Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald in an interview.
The feud sent shockwaves through the theatre industry, with an open letter signed by around 700 fellow Broadway artists, reprimanding her.
It also calling on her to be banned from the upcoming industry Oscars, the Tony Awards.
“I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful,” she said in a statement posted online.
Watch the video above
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The drama started last year when LuPone, 76, who was starring in play The Roommate on Broadway, made a formal noise complaint against Broadway musical, Hell’s Kitchen, with her theatre shared a wall.
After LuPone said the musical was “too loud”, the sound design of Hell’s Kitchen – which is by Alicia Keyes and features a predominantly African-American cast – was modified.
LuPone was also seen refusing to sign a fan’s Hell’s Kitchen playbill, saying it was “too loud”.
Hell’s Kitchen star Kecia Lewis posted a video on Instagram in November, saying calling a majority black cast loud was a “microaggression” and asking for an apology.
A microaggression is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalised group”.
LuPone responded to the comments in a May 26, 2025 profile piece in The New Yorker
She took issue with Lewis calling herself a “veteran” in her November video, telling the outlet, “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…” she said.
“She’s done seven. I’ve done 31. Don’t call yourself a vet, b—h,” she said.
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Lewis, 59, has in fact done 10 shows in total while LuPone has done 28.
LuPone is also 20 years older than Lewis and started her stage career 40 years ago.
LuPone added about the noise issue: ”This is not unusual on Broadway. This happens all the time when walls are shared.”
The author of the New Yorker story, Michael Schulman also brought up fellow stage actress Audra McDonald, who had supported Lewis’ video.
In response LuPone said: ”And I thought, you should know better. That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend,” adding that the two had a rift.
McDonald, who is currently also starring on Broadway in Gypsy, responded to LuPone’s comments in a TV interview.
The 54-year old told CBS, “If there is a rift between us, I don’t know what it is. That’s something you would have to ask Patti about.
“I haven’t seen her in about 11 years just because we’ve been busy, just with life and stuff. So I don’t know what rift she’s talking about, but you’d have to ask her.”
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Actors then started to respond to LuPone’s comments including film and TV star Viola Davis and Tony-winning actress Donna Murphy,.
An open letter signed by Broadway heavyweights including Tony winners Tony winners James Monroe Iglehart, Wendell Pierce, Hell’s Kitchen cast member Maleah Joi Moon, and even Courtney Love was released on May 30.
It labels LuPone’s comments about Lewis and McDonald as “degrading and misogynistic” and calls it “a blatant act of racialised disrespect.”
“It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment. It is emblematic of the microaggressions and abuse that people in this industry have endured for far too long, too often without consequence,” it says.
It claims LuPone’s comments are part of an industry-wide pattern of “persistent failure to hold people accountable for violent, disrespectful, or harmful behaviour – especially when they are powerful or well-known.”
The letter called on the Broadway League, the American Theatre Wing, and “the greater theatre community” to disinvite LuPone and others “who use their platform to publicly demean, harass, or disparage fellow artists” from events, such as the upcoming Tony Awards.
It also demand for those involved to attend “comprehensive anti-bias or restorative justice programs” and for the League and the Wing to create “clear, transparent policies for addressing harmful behaviour.”
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LuPone has now apologised.
In a statement posted on Instagram on May 31 (June 1 Australian time), she said she “wholeheartedly agree[s] with everything that was written in the open letter.”
“I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful,” she said.
“I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and 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 to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies.
“I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right”.
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