Being a Diva While White

500 drama queens demand Broadway legend Patti LuPone's cancellation for bitchery toward two rival divas who are black

I’ve been pointing out that in 2025 wokeness is by no means dead in big, institutional culture, such as art museums. And, now, here’s a throwback on Broadway to the not so good old days of 2018, where 500 theater kids want to cancel living legend Patti LuPone for being a diva while white.

The 76-year-old Italian-American LuPone originated the starring role in Evita on Broadway way back in 1979.

She’s never had a big movie career, but I can recall while watching probably the best movie she’s been in, Witness, some people in the theater nudging each other and saying “That’s Patti LuPone!” In her own not huge but hardly insignificant world of Broadway, she’s legitimately a big deal.

Like many divas, LuPone is highly competitive with her rival divas, and like many old people, she has a sharp tongue. In a recent interview with The New Yorker, she kvetched about at least six people she doesn’t like. For instance, she called stage and screen diva Glenn Close a “bitch.” LuPone originated the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in London in the 1990s, but then Andrew Lloyd cast Close in the first American production, and LuPone has never forgiven her:

LuPone also complained about her ex-boyfriend Kevin Kline, Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and Ron Duguay (LuPone’s ice hockey player ex-boyfriend who is now an item with Palin), along with Broadway actresses Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald. The first four of LuPone’s targets are white, so nobody who isn’t a gay man who is really into Broadway musical theater gossip cares about LuPone’s white-on-white bitchery.

After all, anybody who has seen All About Eve knows that Broadway actresses are barracudas toward each other:

But the last two people Lupone insulted are black women. So a huge 2010s-style whoop-tee-doo has erupted with 500 drama queens demanding her cancellation.

Paywall here.

From the New York Times news section:

It began with a Broadway noise dispute.

When LuPone was on Broadway last year, starring with Mia Farrow in a play called “The Roommate,” she grew concerned about sounds audible from the Alicia Keys musical playing next door, “Hell’s Kitchen.” Noise is a frequent phenomenon on Broadway, and is especially noticeable at plays [i.e., non-musicals], where the sound levels tend to be lower than at musicals. LuPone said that she asked for help from the Shubert Organization, which operates [both of] the theaters, and that it was taken care of.

Kecia Lewis, who won a Tony Award for playing a piano teacher in “Hell’s Kitchen,” posted an Instagram video in November criticizing LuPone’s actions. In what she called an “open letter” about LuPone’s complaints about the musical’s noise levels, she said, “These actions, in my opinion, are bullying, they’re offensive, they are racially microaggressive, they’re rude, they’re rooted in privilege.”

She added: “Referring to a predominantly Black Broadway show as loud can unintentionally reinforce harmful stereotypes.”

In other words, Kecia Lewis started the latest feud by calling LuPone racist for being professional enough to take care her audience could hear her lines.

What does that have to do with McDonald?

McDonald, a founding member of Black Theater United, a coalition formed to combat racism in the theater world, added supportive emojis to Lewis’s Instagram post. While comments on the post appear to have been removed, People magazine reported at the time that McDonald “simply commented with a series of emojis, writing: ‘❤️❤️👏🏾👏🏾’. ”

What did LuPone say about it?

The writer of The New Yorker profile, Michael Schulman, asked LuPone about McDonald posting “supportive emojis” on the video. LuPone said: “Exactly. And I thought, You should know better. That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend.”

The article says that LuPone mentioned having had a rift with McDonald, but said that she declined to describe it.

Then Schulman asked LuPone what she thought about the current revival of “Gypsy,” starring McDonald as Momma Rose, a role that LuPone once played. He wrote: “She stared at me, in silence, for fifteen seconds. Then she turned to the window and sighed, ‘What a beautiful day.’”

That’s great.

Divas are gonna diva, and all you can do about it is enjoy it.

What did LuPone say about Lewis?

In her Instagram post, Lewis had addressed LuPone as a fellow theater veteran. LuPone took issue with that characterization. “She calls herself a veteran?” she asked The New Yorker. Then, saying, “Let’s find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done,” she went on to disparage her. “She’s done seven. I’ve done thirty-one. Don’t call yourself a vet, bitch.” (The New Yorker pointed out that LuPone undercounted Lewis’s credits and overstated her own.)

The Internet Broadway DataBase credits LuPone with being in 28 Broadway shows and Lewis with 10.

On Friday, we got:

OPEN LETTER FROM THE BROADWAY THEATER COMMUNITY MAY 30TH

To the American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League, and the greater theater community,

… Recently, Patti LuPone made deeply inappropriate and unacceptable public comments about two of Broadway’s most respected and beloved artists: Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald. In a published interview with The New Yorker, she referred to Kecia Lewis—a Black woman and a 40-year veteran of the American stage—as a “b***.”

They left out an asterisk.

This language is not only degrading and misogynistic—it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect. It constitutes bullying. 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.

To publicly attack a woman who has contributed to this art form with such excellence, leadership, and grace—and to discredit the legacy of Audra McDonald, the most nominated and awarded performer in Tony Award history—is not simply a personal offense. It is a public affront to the values of collaboration, equity, and mutual respect that our theater community claims to uphold.

Let us be clear: this is 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. This is not about differing opinions. It is about public actions that demean, intimidate, or perpetuate violence against fellow artists. …

We will no longer tolerate violence—verbal, emotional, or physical—against artists within our own community. …

Violence, I tell you, violence!

Individuals, including Patti Lupone, who use their platform to publicly demean, harass, or disparage fellow artists— particularly with racial, gendered, or otherwise violent language—should not be welcomed at industry events, including the Tony Awards, fundraisers, and public programs. Participation, recognition, and attendance at high-profile events must be contingent on conduct that reflects community values. This includes completion of comprehensive anti-bias or restorative justice programs before re-entry into publicfacing spaces.

This is not about “canceling” anyone

Yes, it is.

or condemning them — it is about care. … We envision a theater industry where all artists — including Black women — are protected, valued, and celebrated. Where excellence is met with recognition, not hostility. Where harm is addressed, not ignored. Where no one is forced to choose between their artistry and their dignity.

Our industry is under threat. The arts are being defunded, theater programs are disappearing, and artists are being pushed to the margins. We need each other now more than ever. We need community. We need leadership. And we need accountability. To the Kecias and the Audras of our past, present, and future: You are the soul of this community. We honor your brilliance, your resilience, and your impact. You deserve more than applause. You deserve protection. You deserve respect.

To the leaders of our industry: A belief in justice, equity, and inclusion must mean something — not just in statements, not just in programming, but in how we act when those values are tested. Accountability is not an attack; it is an act of care. We are calling for action — not to punish, but to protect. Not to divide, but to strengthen. A stronger, healthier, more equitable Broadway is possible — one where all artists are treated with dignity, safety, and respect. This is a call grounded in commitment. Commitment to the community we claim to be. To the values we profess to uphold. And to the future we have the power to shape — one rooted in equity, accountability, and collective care. Let us move forward together, not in silence or avoidance, but with courage and clarity — so that our community can truly succeed and thrive, without inflicting violence or harm.

We must stand firm against the violence of Patti LuPone.

I don’t recognize any of the 500 names. I looked up a few dozen Broadway stars as suggested by Google and didn’t find any of them among the signatories.

The basic problem remains that there has never been a reckoning over the Racial Reckoning. A whole lot of people remain unshamed and basically clueless about how racist and cringe their anti-white behavior became during the Great Awokening.