Patti Lupone has issued an apology after making what she now describes as “demeaning and disrespectful” comments about two fellow Broadway stars in an interview with the New Yorker last week.

On May 30, over 500 Broadway artists and professionals signed an open letter calling for a formal reprimand of LuPone, citing her “scathing” and “demeaning” language. The letter specifically condemns what it describes as racialized and gendered targeting of McDonald and Lewis, both acclaimed Black women artists.