Overview

• More than 500 Broadway performers and theatre professionals signed an open letter condemning LuPone’s recent remarks as bullying, harassment and racialized disrespect
• The letter, directed at the Broadway League and American Theatre Wing, calls for LuPone to be disinvited from the 2025 Tony Awards and other industry events
• In a New Yorker interview published May 26, LuPone called Kecia Lewis a “bitch” and dismissed Audra McDonald as “not a friend” after Lewis criticized her for complaining about noise from Hell’s Kitchen
• Audra McDonald told Gayle King she was unaware of any rift with LuPone and said questions about their past should be directed to her colleague
• The controversy has reignited discussions about harassment and microaggressions on Broadway and prompted calls for consistent enforcement of respectful conduct