Audra McDonald Responds to Patti LuPone Saying They’re Not Friends

Audra McDonald is responding to Patti LuPone’s recent assertion that the pair are not friends.

After LuPone, 76, told The New Yorker in a profile published Monday, May 26 that McDonald, 54, is “not a friend,” claiming the pair fell out years ago, CBS Sunday Mornings shared a clip on Instagram Thursday, May 29, in which McDonald addressed LuPone’s comments. The interview with Gayle King is set to air in full next week.

“If there’s a rift between us, I don’t know what it is,” McDonald said, when King asked the Tony winner if she was “surprised” by LuPone’s comments. “That’s something you’d have to ask Patti about. You know, I haven’t seen her in about 11 years just because we’ve been busy just with life. So I don’t know what rift she’s talking about, but you’d have to ask her.” 

LuPone’s mention of an apparent feud between her and McDonald comes as McDonald is nominated at the upcoming Tony Awards on June 8 for her role as Rose in a revival of Gypsy. When LuPone was asked by The New Yorker what she thought of McDonald’s Gypsy performance, the performer — 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.”

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.)

The two 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.

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McDonald was not the only celebrity LuPone criticized in that May 26 New Yorker piece; she also fired off comments about Glenn Close, Kecia Lewis, and even her ex Kevin Kline. Regarding her past relationship with The Good House actor, LuPone recalled their seven years together as “painful.” “I took an instant dislike to him,” the actress said of Kline, 77, who she first met at The Juilliard School in New York.

The 78th Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo, will air live on CBS and stream live on Paramount+ from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 8.