Major League Baseball fans have heavily criticized famous Broadway actress Betsy Wolfe for her rendition of the National Anthem before the New York Yankees Opening Day game.
Wolfe has performed the National Anthem previously at New York baseball games, with her voice so acclaimed that she has been nominated for a Tony Award.
Yankees fans saw her appearing to look at her phone for the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner, an odd choice for someone capable of remembering the words to an entire Broadway production.
Wolfe’s rendition aired live on YES Network, before the game transferred to ESPN for the showdown with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The ‘& Juliet’ star did not mess up any of the words to the anthem. That was not enough for the tough Bronx crowd.
Here is some of the reaction to Wolfe’s National Anthem from social media.
MLB fans have criticized Broadway actress Betsy Wolfe for her National Anthem performance
Yankees fans saw her appearing to look at her phone for the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner
‘Who ever singing the anthem for the Yankees game gotta be embarrassed,’ one baseball fan said on X.
‘The young lady singing the national anthem at the #Yankees game is reading the lyrics off of her phone….YIKES #OpeningDay,’ another MLB fan said on social media.
‘Worst sober national anthem maybe,’ a third said, with a throwback to Ingrid Andress’ National Anthem before the Home Run Derby last season.
‘I hate to be mean but if that anthem wasn’t a bad omen I don’t know what it was? #Yankees,’ a fourth stated.
‘Wow! How Embarrassing Singing of National Anthem for Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. And she also Needed her Cell Phone to Remember the Words. Really! Is this the Best You Could Get/Afford for Opening Day? @Yankees,’ a fifth concluded.
Earlier this month, Andress spoke out about her disaster singing the National Anthem, where she was drunk on the field and checked herself into rehab the next day.
‘It only took, you know, global humiliation for me to be like “this is a problem,”‘ Andress said Thursday on ‘The Viall Files’. ‘I was so gone that afterward, I thought that I like, kind of nailed it.’
A collection of messages about Betsy Wolfe’s national anthem before the Yankees game
Andress recalled taking the field ‘not caring’ about how her performance would go and it was not until the next morning when she sobered up and realized what had transpired.
‘I was like, “Okay, this is so unlike me, like, this is not okay,'” Andress said.
On Thursday, the Yankees’ fortunes were not doomed immediately after Wolfe’s anthem, as the team held the lead over the Brewers through the sixth inning of the interleague matchup.
Wolfe is also famous for starring in ‘Waitress’, ‘The Last Five Years’, ‘Falsettos’, and ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ in New York City.
Wolfe posted about her experience singing the National Anthem on Thursday, showing herself and her daughter getting ready for her time in the spotlight.
Wolfe nor the Yankees have shown any disapproval for the Broadway star’s performance.
Her most famous Broadway role may have been her most recent in ‘& Juliet’ as William Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway.
Wolfe was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2023.
Against tough competition, she lost to Bonnie Milligan from the show ‘Kimberly Akimbo’.
