Patti LuPone Says Audra McDonald Is ‘Not a Friend’ Anymore After Backstage Controversy

Patti LuPone isn’t mincing words when it comes to where she stands with fellow Broadway icon Audra McDonald.

In a New Yorker profile published Monday, May 26 to promote her upcoming guest spot in …And Just Like That, LuPone made it clear the two no longer have a positive relationship, telling interviewer Michael Schulman that McDonald is “not a friend.”

Though LuPone, 76, did not elaborate on the history of their falling out, she told the outlet it was a long-ago rift.

When asked what she thought of McDonald’s current turn as Rose in Gypsy, LuPone — who won a Tony for playing the same role in the 2008 production — reportedly stared in silence for 15 seconds before turning to the window and sighing, “What a beautiful day.”

Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone pose at the Drama League’s 27th Annual All-Star Benefit Gala honoring Patti LuPone at the Pierre Hotel on Feb. 7, 2011 in New York City.Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

McDonald, 54, received her record-making 11th Tony nomination for Gypsy, becoming the most nominated performer of all time. The actress already holds the record for wins, with six Tonys. (LuPone has three.)

She and LuPone have worked together in the past, performing in concerts, galas and in the 2007 LA Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. They also costarred in the 2000 New York Philharmonic’s concert version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, with LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and McDonald as the Beggar Woman.

Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone during a break in an LA Opera rehearsal of Mahagonny at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles on Tuesday Jan. 30, 2007.Richard Hartog/Los Angeles Times via Getty

The topic of their friendship came up in the New Yorker piece when Schulman asked LuPone about the conflict she had late last year with another Broadway diva: Kecia Lewis.

The Hell’s Kitchen star had posted a video to Instagram criticizing LuPone for calling the Alicia Keys musical “too loud” — remarks that Lewis dubbed “bullying,” “offensive,” “racially microaggressive,” “rude” and “rooted in privilege.” At the time, LuPone was starring opposite Mia Farrow in the play The Roommate and had been complaining about hearing Hell’s Kitchen‘s sound cues through the wall the two buildings shared.

LuPone didn’t hold back when asked about Lewis’ post. “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,” she said. “She’s done seven. I’ve done 31. Don’t call yourself a vet, bitch!”

As Schulman pointed out, Lewis — who was in the original Broadway company of Dreamgirls — actually had 10 Broadway credits, and LuPone, 28. But when told that McDonald had responded to the video with supportive emojis, LuPone’s reaction was equally pointed.

“Exactly,” she said. “And I thought, ‘You should know better.’ That’s typical of Audra.”

Audra McDonald in ‘Gypsy’ on Broadway.Julieta Cervantes

The George C. Wolfe revival of Gypsy marks the first time the character of Rose has been played on Broadway by a Black actress. Tickets for the musical are now on sale.

Though LuPone has stayed silent about that production, she has praised another revival this season of a musical she formerly starred in: Jamie Lloyd’s production of Sunset Blvd. starring Nicole Scherzinger.

“I love this production,” she said back in December, in a voice message to NY1’s Frank DiLella shared on his social media account. “The lighting. The use of the filming was something that I questioned because I don’t know where I am — am I at a movie or am I at the theater? This worked brilliantly.”

“The whole thing, the whole thing,” LuPone said. “I was energized when I left the theater. I loved it.”