Turns out, Patti LuPone’s alleged feud with fellow Broadway icon Audra McDonald may be one-sided.
On Thursday, “CBS Mornings” unveiled a teaser video of co-host Gayle King’s upcoming interview with McDonald, who received her 11th Tony Award nomination for the current revival of “Gypsy,” in which she makes history as the first Black actor to portray Momma Rose.
In the interview, set to air next week, King asks McDonald for her response to LuPone’s claim, which appeared in The New Yorker’s bombshell profile of LuPone, that there’s a rift between the two actors.
“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.”
She went on to note: “You know, 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.”
LuPone’s suggestion of feud between her and McDonald was among several eyebrow-raising assertions made by the “Agatha All Along” actor in her conversation with The New Yorker, published Monday.
The subject came up when journalist Michael Schulman asked LuPone about a 2024 incident in which she contacted the stage management team of the Alicia Keys musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” which boasts a predominately Black cast, to ask that the show’s sound cues be adjusted. At the time, LuPone was appearing in the play “The Roommate” at a neighboring theater, and alleged certain sounds in “Hell’s Kitchen” were audible during her show’s performances.
The “Hell’s Kitchen” team appeared to accommodate LuPone’s request quickly. However, the exchange ― as well as LuPone’s public complaints about “Hell’s Kitchen” being “too loud,” as seen on TikTok ― prompted one of its Tony-winning stars, Kecia Lewis, to accuse LuPone of “bullying” and “racially microaggressive” behavior in an Instagram video.
In her chat with The New Yorker, LuPone called Lewis a “bitch” and suggested the actor, who is Black, didn’t have the right to deem herself a Broadway “veteran” despite having starred in “Dreamgirls” and “Once on This Island,” among other musicals.
Luis Sinco via Getty Images
When told that McDonald had responded to Lewis’ Instagram video with supportive emojis, LuPone replied, “That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend.”
The outlet notes LuPone also alluded to a “long-ago rift” between her and McDonald before appearing to shade McDonald’s “Gypsy” performance. Notably, LuPone played Momma Rose in the 2008 Broadway production of “Gypsy,” winning a Tony.
Though LuPone’s remarks about Lewis have been the most incendiary, her claim about McDonald also surprised many fans, given the two women have performed together on multiple occasions.
Since The New Yorker piece was published, numerous actors, writers and other members of the Broadway community have rallied behind Lewis and McDonald while denouncing LuPone’s comments.
“I’m actually thankful for the article, because now the industry and the world can see Patti LuPone for who she truly is,” playwright Bryan-Keyth Wilson wrote on Instagram. “The way she spoke about these incredibly talented Black women — calling them out of their names, diminishing their contributions — it was disgusting. If a Black woman had behaved the same way, she would’ve been crucified.”
Actor and singer Shoshana Bean, one of Lewis’ “Hell’s Kitchen” co-stars, felt similarly.
“Our government is threatening the very existence of art and creators on a daily basis, our funding, our validity…while simultaneously trying to erase the history and contributions of Black people in this country,” she wrote on Instagram Stories, according to Playbill. “We won’t allow attacks like this within our own community.”
Read the full article here
