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Writer's pictureKris Avalon

Patti LuPone Continues Her Epic Shading of Madonna on ‘Hot Ones Versus’


Patti LuPone is never one to bite her tongue — but she will withhold an apology.


via: EW

The Broadway icon joined Aubrey Plaza on a recent episode of Hot Ones Versus, where she refused to apologize for incendiary comments she once leveled at the pop star. Plaza directed LuPone to "look into the camera and apologize to the pop icon" for calling her a "movie killer" who "can't act her way out of a paper bag" on Watch What Happens Live, or else eat a "death wing" - the show's spiciest offering.


Want to guess what the legendary diva chose to do? Eat the wing down to the bone in a matter of seconds, stare straight into the camera, and then throw the wing at it.


"I've seen her on stage and I saw her in a movie and I went, 'Um, okay,'" the actress and singer told Plaza. "There's just some things some people can't do, and you just gotta admit you cant do it, that's all. Or don't even try it! Everybody cant do everything."


That seemed to be the end of LuPone's feelings on the matter, but actually, she had one more right hook waiting. "Like Kim f---ing Kardashian. Can we go there? Or shall I eat another wing?" This isn't the first time LuPone has critiqued Kardashian's acting abilities.

Reps for LuPone, Madonna, and Kardashian did not respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.



Madonna and LuPone both have their fare share of beefs (Sandra Bernhard recently spoke about how "sad" she is that Madonna abruptly ended their friendship 30 years ago; LuPone also recently spoke about her regrets over her own 30-year feud with Andrew Lloyd Webber). But in this case, the beef in question appears to be entirely one-sided, in LuPone's direction.


The American Horror Story star first fired shots at Madonna when prompted by a viewer question on a 2017 episode of WWHL. She said she hadn't spoken to singer after she took on the role of Perón in the 1996 film adaptation. "The only thing that Madonna has ever said to me was 'I'm taller than you,'" she recalled.


When host Andy Cohen pressed on to ask what LuPone thought of Madonna's Evita, she held nothing back. "I was on the treadmill when MTV used to have videos, and I saw, I believe it was 'Buenos Aires', and I thought it was a piece of sh--," she said. "Madonna is a movie killer. She's dead behind the eyes. She cannot act her way of a paper bag. She should not be in films or on stage. She's a wonderful, you know, performer for what she does," LuPone conceded, "but she is not an actress."



LuPone has demonstrated a willingness and ability to settle disputes, however. On the same episode of WWHL, Cohen asked LuPone about her conflict with Webber, which originated from Webber choosing Glenn Close to star in his Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard despite signing LuPone previously to the contract.


She recalled seeing Close "after all that controversy" and after "a great deal of silence on Glenn's part" at the Kennedy Center Awards ceremony for Barbara Cook in 2011. "As luck would have it," LuPone remembered, Close "sat down right next to me." Close reportedly told her, "'I had nothing to do with it,' and we hugged. I said 'holy sh--.' It's that easy that you can get rid of years of anxiety."


Madonna has not publicly responded to LuPone, but did direct some cheeky remarks toward Cohen when he appeared in the front row at a 2023 concert. "How f---ing lucky am I, Andy? If you say one more bad thing about me on your show," she said, deliberately spilling a bit of her drink in his direction. Cohen reached out his arms and laughed in a conciliatory gesture, but the Queen of pop wasn't finished with him. "Oh yeah, you're gonna be in so much trouble. You little troublemaking queen."


LuPone can soon be seen as the 450 year old Sicilian witch Lilia Calderu in Agatha All Along, costarring Plaza and Kathryn Hahn. She may not be familiar with the MCU, but you can get familiar with her exciting new role when the series flies onto Disney+ Sept. 18 at 9 p.m. ET.




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