Posted: 5/30/25 at 8:26am
Let's face it- Patti Lupone is a wonderful performer- but is an a-hole nevertheless. She should keep her mouth shut with all of her disrespecting and insulting comments about her peers- but she cannot help herself because this is who she is. An ASS.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 8:44am
Exactly what binau said. It’s not a “Ah what can you do, Patti’s gonna Patti, who cares”, but more a, “Well, are you surprised? Patti’s gonna Patti, she’s always been self centered and obnoxious.”
It speaks to the consistency of her foot-in-mouth antics more than excusing them.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 9:09am
Who knew this ould be such a crazy thread? Probably anyone who reads here regularly, honestly.
Giving my opinion that literally nobody asked, Patti's comment against Kecia probably wasn't intended to be racist, she just hates everyone equally. But when you put in the context of the struggle of black people triyng to make it on the musical theater industry and the uphill battlee they have to face, her comparing Broadway credits with someone who's been facing this battle for 40 years was completely tone deaf and yes, racist.
I do find it hyperbolic of everyone that is coming out with "oh uau, she trully has shown her true colors now, that racist vile monster", it's just so dramatic and over the top. Yes it was a racist comment and there's no mending that, but we knew Patti was a person full of hatred for years now, it just happens that this time she directed this hate in a way that the optics looks bad for her. She should be criticized for that, of course but people that made a living on her name going "oh my God, I'm heart broken and I won't affiliate with this vile person anymore" just feel extremelly performative. If you've been a fan of hers for that long you would know that her making a hateful comment to the wrong person was just a matter of time.
Again, I don't endorse Patti's behaviour in this instance and I doubt anyone other than people with egos as big as hers do, but some of the responses to this whole circus are just for show and it's kind of obvious.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 9:41am
BWAY Baby2 said: "Let's face it- Patti Lupone is a wonderful performer- but is an a-hole nevertheless. She should keep her mouth shut with all of her disrespecting and insulting comments about her peers- but she cannot help herself because this is who she is. An ASS."
I agree with this 100%. She’s never had a filter and she can’t help herself. That’s not an excuse at all, just a fact.
BUT…whether it was racist or not, the bottom line is that if someone feels as though it is, then we all should take a beat and understand why they think that. I am very tired of people saying something is NOT racist or anti-semitic or homophobic, etc. If a person who is in that marginalized community feels it is, how about we all shut our mouths and listen. That’s the only way we can ever learn and grow, because no one should ever speak for someone else.
Updated On: 5/30/25 at 09:41 AM
Posted: 5/30/25 at 10:55am
Just checking in on this thread…
oh good, it’s still crazy
Posted: 5/30/25 at 11:29am
This thread is a microcosm of culture at large right now and we had better figure it out or we're cooked (we already are, but here's hoping!).
What I will say is I think Ira Madison's take on this situation is the correct and most reasonable. There's a lot of projecting onto this situation with not a lot of evidence. There aren't stories about Patti being racist to co-stars, yet she's being painted like she's a klanswoman. Which is ridiculous. Does she have bias? Probably. Every human being does no matter how socially conscious they are. Did Patti go too far and was the interview in poor taste? Yes and yes. But this is snowballed so much that it's really bordering on absurdity.
https://iramadison.substack.com/p/is-patti-lupone-racist
May have already been posted, but I'd rather claw my eyes out in slow motion than read through every page of this, so apologies if this is redundant.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 11:54am
I wish Kecia's original online open letter had gotten the traction this is getting. Even if it was wrongly inspired it could have given LuPone, Kecia and us a learning moment. Instead, we have mindboggling crudeness met with internet madness disguising itself as racism scholarship. Audra's avoidance of the topic is also very disappointing. She could have taken an even higher road and closed the loop on the microaggression topic. Hopefully she will come back to it after her Tony campaign.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 12:00pm
I feel like I need to wear a hazmat suit to open this thread.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 12:19pm
OhHiii, I mostly agree that response. I just don't buy the concept of "microaggresions." That's the bottom line. I understand this is an approach to discourse many embrace. I'm not one of them.
What I see in both Keisha's inital reponse and the more intense commentors here is an insistence that if something is felt to be true, then it is true. I don't agree with that reasoning. I can understand the life experience of racism that causes a person to be triggered even in an instance where racism was not in fact the motivation. I can't take the next step and say, "If they feel it was racist, even though the evidence to me points to something, then I guess it was racist after all." It's a bridge too far for me.
I don't say that out of callousness towards suffering or pretence that racism doesn't exist. But as I know from experience as a gay man that, while I've certainly faced a whole lot of homophobia in my life, there have been times where I imputed homophobia to people where it in fact was not present. I don't think I get to call non-homophobes homophobic just because I had a feeling (and "I know from lived experience what homophobia is" hasn't stopped me, on some occasions for being, simply, wrong). And I'm not going to call someone racist if, when Iook at their personality and pattern of behavior, I don't see racist intent.
If people say, "This offended me. You don't see it as offense, but I do," I can respect their feelings. When I'm told I'm cluess, hateful or part of the problem because I don't read the situation in the same way, or that not agreeing with their interpretation is itself is a treat to them or makes this an unsafe space, I tune out.
Updated On: 5/30/25 at 12:19 PM
Posted: 5/30/25 at 1:11pm
So something interesting that I heard last night from Bryan The Business Analyst ( a theater business analyst on the Tok). I have not fact checked any of this. Apparently when Audra won her Tony for Porgy and Bess the production and her performance where not exactly well received. The production took many liberties and was in fact retitled Gershwins Porgy and Bess. Sondheim wrote a editorial for the times blasting the production. Apparently the theater community got very defensive then about Audra and according to what he said last night, the sentiment won her the not deserved Tony. Will history repeat itself?
Posted: 5/30/25 at 1:18pm
She also missed many performances including most of the month of July. Causing the production to loose money and close early two months after.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 1:21pm
Posted: 5/30/25 at 1:28pm
I remember Audra getting pretty much universal raves for her performance in Porgy and Bess, the actual show itself was more mixed. I also remember the Ben Brantley writing an article about actors or actresses taking on legendary roles in theater and declaring Audra the best Bess he's ever seen. I saw her performance and it was spectacular, especially in the act 1 closer with Philip Boykin, the only one in the cast who seemed to match her operatic prowless. She totally deserved the tony for that performance.
Also agree, that Ira Madison's substack article is the best response to this whole craziness, although disagree about her performance in Gypsy, which I thought was spectacular.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 1:32pm
I remember there being a lot of disourse about Porgy and Bess. And I believe Sondheims letter began tons of back and forth. And what created controversy was a interview Audra gave close ot the Tonys. If anyone has a link I would love to see it.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 1:43pm
I came back to this thread after being away for 2 days. FIVE more pages of posts since then! I just bailed at Post #431…not because of anything that post said, but because this thread has gone so off-the-rails.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:00pm
I don’t remember liking that porgy and bess. And I remember the controversy but not in any detail.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:08pm
Oh my! There's a hoodoo practitioner here?
I'll see your hoodoo practitioner and raise you a santero!
Just when I think this board can't get anymore b@tsh!t cray, it goes ahead and proves me wrong!
LMAO!!!
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:09pm
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:12pm
Glenn Close is like, “She called me a bitch in that interview, too…”
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:15pm
Kad said: "Glenn Close is like, “She called me a bitch in that interview, too…”"
“I’m not going to be IGNORED, Dan…”
Updated On: 5/30/25 at 02:15 PM
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:20pm
WiCkEDrOcKS said: "Over 500 Broadway Artists Release Open Letter Reprimanding Patti LuPone"
Well, if they got Courtney Love’s signature, there goes LuPone’s career.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:37pm
There is a lot I don't like about that letter. You can read how full of themselves they all are. As for when will Patti speak; I believe she is scheduled to be on Andy Cohen next Wednesday. But my Directv guide does not give any guest information.
Posted: 5/30/25 at 2:43pm
WiCkEDrOcKS said: "Over 500 Broadway Artists Release Open Letter Reprimanding Patti LuPone"
Truly ridiculous. Sounds cliche, but this is cancel culture at its absolute worst.
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