Music

Following Patti LuPone‘s recent remarks disparaging fellow Broadway actresses Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis, more than 500 members of the Broadway community have signed an open letter calling out the musical theater legend for “bullying” and “harassment.”
In the message published Friday (May 30) — just a few days after a New Yorker piece quoted LuPone as saying that McDonald was “not a friend” while calling Cole a “bi—” for labeling herself a stage “veteran” — the signatories wrote that the Agatha All Along star’s comments were “degrading and misogynistic,” as well as a “blatant act of racialized disrespect.” People who signed the letter include Courtney Love, as well as Tony winners James Monroe Iglehart, Maleah Joi Moon and Wendell Pierce.

“It constitutes bullying,” the letter continues. “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.”

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Though the signatories directly urged the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League to disinvite LuPone from the 2025 Tony Awards — as well as other “industry events” such as “fundraisers and public programs” — they also insisted that their message was 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 letter reads. “This is not about 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.”

Billboard has reached out to LuPone’s rep for comment.

The letter adds to the online backlash LuPone has been facing since her New Yorker profile went live Monday. In the piece, LuPone reflected on how she once asked Shubert Organization head Robert Wankel to step in after sound from the Alicia Keys-created musical Hell’s Kitchen, in which Lewis starred, could be heard during LuPone’s performances of The Roommate next door on Broadway. Shortly after LuPone’s complaint, Lewis posted an Instagram video labeling the icon’s actions as “bullying,” “racially microaggressive” and “rooted in privilege” for calling “a Black show loud.”

“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,” LuPone told The New Yorker of the situation. “Don’t call yourself a vet, bi—.”

As for McDonald, LuPone took issue with the Private Practice star showing support for Lewis in the comments of said Instagram video. “I thought, You should know better,” LuPone told the publication, noting that there had been an undisclosed “rift” between the two actresses. “That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend.”

McDonald later responded in an interview with Gayle King, saying she had no idea what “rift” LuPone was referring to.

But while the comments could be regarded as typical for the famously forthright LuPone, the members of the Broadway community who signed Friday’s open letter thinks she crossed a line. “To publicly attack a woman who has contributed to this art form with such excellence, leadership, and grace … is not simply a personal offense,” their statement reads. “It is a public affront to the values of collaboration, equity, and mutual respect that our theater community claims to uphold.

“We cannot continue to welcome back those who harm others simply because of their fame or perceivedvalue,” it concludes. “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.”