Audra McDonald “doesn’t know” why Patti LuPone said she “isn’t a friend” in her New Yorker profile, finally addressing the bad blood between Broadway royalty in a new interview.
McDonald, 54, said she was confused about LuPone’s comments on CBS Sunday Mornings with Gayle King, because, “I haven’t seen her in about 11 years just because we’ve been busy just with life.”
The six-time Tony Award-winner added of her and LuPone’s apparent beef, “I don’t know what rift she’s talking about, but you’d have to ask her.” McDonald’s full interview will air this Sunday, but the show’s Instagram account posted a clip of her comments on Thursday.
LuPone, 76, complained in her New Yorker profile that McDonald seemingly took sides against her when “Hell’s Kitchen” actress Kecia Lewis slammed LuPone on Instagram. LuPone had called in noise complaints about the Alicia Keys production, which shared a wall with LuPone and Mia Farrow’s production of “The Roommate” at the Booth Theatre. Lewis went after LuPone in an Instagram video, calling her complaints “bullying” and “racially microaggressive.” McDonald added supportive emojis to Lewis’ post.
“That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend,” LuPone said, recalling the controversy for The New Yorker. “I thought, ‘You should know better.’” She then snubbed an opportunity to compliment her former collaborator’s current production of Gypsy, telling her interviewer instead, “What a beautiful day.”
McDonald claimed she has no idea what the problem is. “If there’s a rift between us, I don’t know what it is,” McDonald told King.
McDonald and LuPone have starred in several shows together including the New York Philharmonic’s concert version of Sweeney Todd in 2000 and the L.A. Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in 2007.
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