Broadway veteran Patti LuPone did not hold back in a recent New Yorker interview. In it, the thespian known for her unfiltered commentary on theater and entertainment had much to say about fellow Broadway star Audra McDonald, trouble next door with Hell’s Kitchen, Alicia Keys’ musical, and more.
USA Today reported that LuPone and McDonald have collaborated over the years in several capacities, including co-starring in the 2000 concert version of Sweeney Todd and the Los Angeles Opera’s production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in 2007.
Patti LuPone makes it clear Audra McDonald is ‘not a friend’
However, during her New Yorker interview, LuPone made it clear that McDonald, currently starring in Gypsy as Rose, a role for which LuPone won a Tony Award in 2008, is “not a friend.”
McDonald came up as New Yorker writer Michael Shulman told Lupone that she reacted supportively to a social media post accusing LuPone of racial microaggressions.
“That’s typical of Audra,” LuPone said, sharing that the two “had some long-ago rift” but declining to tell Shulman more about the matter.
The shade continued when he asked LuPone about her thoughts on McDonald’s Rose.
“When I asked what she had thought of McDonald’s current production of ‘Gypsy,’ she stared at me, in silence, for fifteen seconds,” Schulman wrote. “Then she turned to the window and sighed, ‘What a beautiful day.'”
Patti LuPone reiterates what Kecia Lewis called ‘racially microaggressive’ complaints about ‘Hell’s Kitchen’
LuPone reflected on starring in The Roommate last year with Mia Farrow: “There was a little bit of bulls**t that went down, and then I washed my hands of a couple of people in the business.”
She recounted contacting the team behind Hell’s Kitchen, which played next door to The Roommate, to inform them that the production was too loud. Although she later sent thank-you flowers to the Hell’s Kitchen crew, a viral video caught LuPone refusing to sign a playbill for the show due to the noise issue, saying, “I’m not signing a Hell’s Kitchen; they’re too loud.”
In November, Hell’s Kitchen star Kecia Lewis addressed LuPone’s complaint in an Instagram video, during which she described her comments and actions as “racially microaggressive.”
“Ms. LuPone, these actions, in my opinion, are bullying. They’re offensive. They are racially microaggressive. They’re rude,” Lewis asserted in the video. “They’re rooted in privilege, and these actions also lack a sense of community and leadership for someone as yourself who has been in the business as long as you have.”
Lewis explained that LuPone’s comments are harmful to Black actors and could sway audiences.
“In our industry, language holds power and shapes perception, often in ways that we may not immediately realize. Referring to a predominantly Black Broadway show as ‘loud’ can unintentionally reinforce harmful stereotypes, and it also feels dismissive of the artistry and the voices that are being celebrated on stage,” she said.
In the New Yorker interview, LuPone reiterated her comments regarding the noise problem, saying, “This is not unusual on Broadway. This happens all the time when walls are shared.” She also threw shade at Lewis for referring to herself as a “veteran” in the video.
“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 f**k she’s talking about,” LuPone said.
The 76-year-old added, “She’s done seven. I’ve done 31. Don’t call yourself a vet, b***h.”
In its article, The New Yorker notes, “The correct numbers are actually 10 and 28.”
Social media calls Patti LuPone’s comments ‘tactless and tone deaf’
LuPone has been under fire on social media for remarks in her New Yorker interview, with many condemning the Tony winner for being out of touch and attacking Black female performers.
A user on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, called her candor classless.
Broadway Black, a platform that highlights “the successes of Black theatre artists on and off the Broadway stage,” posted on X that LuPone’s comments hint at a broader diversity issue in the industry:
“Calling Kecia Lewis a ‘b***h’ because she spoke the truth about LuPone’s behavior isn’t just a personal attack—it’s a public reminder of the bigger issue: Black artists in this industry are constantly fighting to be heard, valued, and respected.”
Another user called LuPone’s interview “tactless and tone deaf.”
