Patti LuPone’s Intriguing Feuds: From Madonna’s ‘Paper Bag’ Acting to Kim Kardashian’s Hollywood Maneuvers

Patti LuPone slices through Hollywood’s most illustrious personalities with the same deft precision she uses to navigate octaves on Broadway. This iconic figure of the stage is renowned for her biting critiques, which have spared neither Madonna nor Kim Kardashian, often delivered with cutting wit on Andy Cohen’s show Watch What Happens Live. Even when unprompted, LuPone consistently has a barbed comment at the ready, targeting legendary figures such as Andrew Lloyd Webber across the years. Her criticism extends beyond the entertainment elite, presenting a cautionary tale for anyone tempted to reach for a mobile device during one of her live performances.

Here are some of LuPone’s most infamous moments of unapologetic honesty:

Madonna

The decades-long cold war between LuPone and Madonna finds its roots in the 1996 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. While LuPone originated the role of Eva Perón on Broadway, Madonna portrayed the character on film. Despite the movie’s acclaim, LuPone remained unimpressed. Appearing on Watch What Happens Live in 2017, she slammed Madonna’s performance, saying, “I saw Buenos Aires on MTV and thought it was a piece of trash.” She added, “Madonna is a movie killer. She’s dead behind the eyes. She cannot act her way out of a paper bag.” While conceding that Madonna is an effective performer in her own sphere, LuPone concluded, “She is not an actress.” In 2024, on Hot Ones, she reaffirmed her stance rather than retract her harsh words.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

LuPone’s fraught history with Webber began after Evita and worsened when she was unceremoniously dropped from the Broadway transfer of Sunset Boulevard, a move that led to a lawsuit. Speaking about him, LuPone stated, “He’s not a good editor of his own music. Evita was his best score. The rest is hit or miss.” When asked in 2023 about the closure of Phantom of the Opera, she quipped, “It’s been how many years? Ninety? Who hasn’t seen it and why see it again?” Although they briefly reconciled at the 2018 Grammy Awards, by 2024 LuPone had again referred to Webber as “a narcissistic, insecure man.”

Kim Kardashian

LuPone criticized Kardashian’s role in American Horror Story: Delicate, despite LuPone’s past work with creator Ryan Murphy. On a 2024 episode of Watch What Happens Live, she said bluntly, “She’s taking a role away from actors,” and questioned her career direction, adding, “Don’t get on the stage.”

Donald Trump

LuPone’s views on Trump are well documented. When asked in a 2017 Variety interview if she would perform for him, she answered plainly, “I hope he doesn’t come see me, because I won’t perform if he does. Because I hate the man.”

Barbra Streisand

LuPone dismissed Streisand’s casting in Hello, Dolly!, saying she was too young at the time and Carol Channing should have starred in the film version. When asked whether Streisand should play Mama Rose in a Gypsy adaptation, LuPone replied with a smirk, “She’s too old. Maybe with technology she could do it, but I don’t know if she still has the drive.”

Joanna Gleason

In a 2024 Hot Ones episode, LuPone admitted her lingering frustration over losing the 1988 Tony Award to Gleason for Into the Woods, joking, “I should have won for Anything Goes! I love you Joanna, but you robbed me!” Gleason later responded with grace, saying, “She sent me flowers when I won. She’s an inspiration.”

Broadway Audiences

LuPone is especially known for confronting unruly theatergoers. In 2009, she stopped a performance of Gypsy to scold an audience member taking photos. In 2016, she took a phone away from a distracted patron, later telling ABC News, “It ruins the experience for others.” In 2022, during a Q and A, she reprimanded an attendee for improper mask-wearing, yelling, “Put your mask over your nose. That’s the rule! If you don’t want to follow it, get out!” When challenged by an audience member claiming to “pay her salary,” LuPone snapped, “You pay my salary? The producer does. Who do you think you are?”

Audra McDonald

A 2025 profile in The New Yorker highlighted LuPone’s strained relationship with McDonald. Asked directly, she said simply, “She’s not a friend.” When prompted about McDonald’s Tony-nominated work, LuPone paused and replied, “What a beautiful day.” McDonald has not publicly commented on the matter.