UPDATE 5/29/25 at 2:18 p.m. ET — Audra McDonald has addressed Patti LuPone’s recent comments that the two Broadway actresses are feuding.
In a teaser for her upcoming CBS Mornings interview, McDonald was asked whether they had any bad blood.
“If there’s a rift between us, I don’t know what it is,” she said. “That’s something you’d have to ask Patti about. I haven’t seen her in about 11 years just because we’ve been busy with life and stuff, so I don’t know what rift she’s talking about, but you’d have to ask her.”
CBS noted that McDonald’s interview was recorded before LuPone’s New Yorker profile was published.
Original story continues below:
Patti LuPone is weighing in on her alleged rift with Audra McDonald.
LuPone, 76, shared in a Monday, May 26, New Yorker profile that McDonald, 54, is “not a friend.” While LuPone did provide further details about the feud, the outlet reported that she claimed it occurred “long-ago.”
When asked to share her thoughts on McDonald’s current role as Rose in Broadway’s Gypsy, LuPone allegedly stared in silence for 15 seconds. She then turned to the window and sighed as she said, “What a beautiful day.”
LuPone, for her part, previously won a Tony for playing the same part in the 2008 production while McDonald received her 11th Tony nomination for the role.
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LuPone and McDonald’s history dates back more than two decades, with the pair costarring in the 2000 New York Philharmonic’s concert version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. (LuPone starred as Mrs. Lovett while McDonald portrayed the Beggar Woman.)
Seven years later, the twosome were involved in a L.A. Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
LuPone and McDonald’s friendship — or lack thereof — was mentioned during the Monday interview when the reporter asked LuPone about her conflict with Kecia Lewis. Last year, LuPone starred in the play The Roommate and complained about hearing Hell’s Kitchen’s sound cues through a wall.
She was then criticized by Hell’s Kitchen star Lewis, 59, for calling the musical “too loud.” Lewis went on to allege that the remarks were “bullying,” “offensive,” “racially microaggressive” and “rooted in privilege” because she called “a Black show loud.”
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“Oh, my God,” LuPone said in her Monday profile regarding the incident. “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.”
Lupone continued, “She’s done seven. I’ve done 31. Don’t call yourself a vet, bitch.” (The profile noted that Lewis has 10 Broadway credits while LuPone holds 28.)
LuPone explained that the noise problem is “not unusual on Broadway,” adding, “This happens all the time when walls are shared.” When the reporter noted that McDonald gave the video “supportive emojis,” LuPone replied, “Exactly. And I thought, ‘You should know better.’ That’s typical of Audra.”
Us Weekly reached out to McDonald’s rep for comment.
Read the full article here
