More than 500 Broadway community members have signed an open letter condemning theater legend Patti LuPone for her “degrading and misogynistic” comments about fellow stars Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald.
In a recent New Yorker cover story, the two-time Tony-winning actor, 76, made a series of foul-mouthed remarks, attacking Hell’s Kitchen actor Lewis and Gypsy lead McDonald.
On Friday, over 500 Broadway artists issued a collective statement addressing LuPone’s “deeply inappropriate and unacceptable public comments about two of Broadway’s most respected and beloved artists: Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald.”
Last November, while starring in the Broadway play The Roommate, LuPone took issue with the loudness of the neighboring show, the Alicia Keys jukebox musical, Hell’s Kitchen. The sound was reportedly bleeding through from theater to theater, causing an issue for LuPone, who requested that the production’s sound cues be adjusted.
Hell’s Kitchen star Lewis later posted an Instagram video, demanding an apology from LuPone, accusing her of “offensive” and “bullying behavior.”
When asked about the incident in the New Yorker profile, LuPone fired back: “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*** she’s talking about.”
Elsewhere in the interview, LuPone was asked about McDonald’s show of support for Lewis’ Instagram post. “I thought, ‘You should know better.’ That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend,” the Evita actor snapped.
“To publicly attack a woman [Lewis] who has contributed to this art form with such excellence, leadership, and grace — and to discredit the legacy of Audra McDonald, the most nominated and awarded performer in Tony Award history — is not simply a personal offense. It is a public affront to the values of collaboration, equity, and mutual respect that our theater community claims to uphold,” the letter read.
“This language is not only degrading and misogynistic — it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect,” it said. “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 continued: “Let us be clear. This is about more than one person. It is about a culture. A pattern. A persistent failure to hold people accountable for violent, disrespectful, or harmful behavior — especially when they are powerful or well-known.”
The statement emphasized: “ This is not bout differing opinions. It is about public actions that demean, intimidate, or perpetuate violence against fellow artists. It is about the normalization of harm in an industry that too often protects prestige over people.”
We “cannot continue to welcome back those who harm others simply because of their fame or perceived value. This must stop. We will no longer tolerate violence — verbal, emotional, or physical — against artists within our own community. No more free passes. If our industry is truly committed to equity, justice, and respect, then those values must be applied consistently, even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially when it’s uncomfortable.”
It concluded: “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. Period.”
The Independent has contacted LuPone’s representative for comment.
Among the signatories were Death of a Salesman alum Wendell Pierce, rocker Courtney Love, and James Monroe Iglehart, best known for playing the Genie in the original Broadway production of Aladdin.
