Patti LuPone Responds to Social Media- 'I Gave Up My Equity Card'

Patti LuPone's name has been used quite a bit on social media over the past week, and the three-time Tony winner is acutely aware of it.

Following an incident last week at Hadestown that involved Lillias White mistakenly calling out a hard of hearing audience member for using a captioning device, theatre fans are making their opinion of the event known. While some have taken to Twitter to express outrage over White's misstep, others have been quick to compare the backlash to some of LuPone's past onstage antics- many of which have received praise.

Earlier this year, LuPone called out a audience member at a Company talkback for not wearing a mask- an incident that resulted in magnanimous support from the Broadway community. In previous theatre seasons, she has been known to stop the show in response to phone use in the theatre.

Today, LuPone has responded to the situation, writing that she "gave up [her] Equity card." She told BroadwayWorld: "When the run of COMPANY ended this past July, I knew I wouldn't be on stage for a very long time. And at that point I made the decision to resign from Equity.​​​​​"

Messages to Actors' Equity Association for comment were not returned.

LuPone expanded upon her decision to give up her Equity card to People, sharing, "Fifty years to this year ... I've been a card-carrying member of Equity, and they don't know who I am basically...They just said, 'Fine, but if you want to rejoin, we're going to have to approve you.'"

LuPone went on to say that Actors' Equity Association doesn't "support actors at all," adding: "They're just not good. And I just didn't want to give them any more money."

LuPone most recently won a Tony Award for her perormance as Joanne in Company. A two-time Tony Award winner for her performances in Evita and the most recent Broadway production of Gypsy, her New York stage credits include War Paint (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations); Shows for Days; The Seven Deadly Sins (New York City Ballet); Company (New York Philharmonic); Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Award nominations); Sweeney Todd (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations); Noises Off; The Old Neighborhood; Master Class; Anything Goes (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award); Oliver!; Accidental Death of An Anarchist; The Water Engine; and The Robber Bridegroom (Tony and Drama Desk nominations). In addition to Company, her London stage credits include Master Class; Sunset Boulevard (Olivier Award nomination); The Cradle Will Rock, and Les Miserables, for which she won the Olivier Award, the first American artist to do so, for her performances in both musicals. Opera: The Ghosts of Versailles (Los Angeles Opera), To Hell and Back (San Francisco Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Los Angeles Opera debut), Regina (Kennedy Center).

Her film credits include: The Comedian, Parker, Union Square, Summer of Sam, Driving Miss Daisy, and Witness. LuPone's television credits include "Pose," "Mom," "The Simpsons," "Vampirina," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," "Penny Dreadful" (Critics Choice Award nomination), "Girls," "American Horror Story: Coven," "30 Rock," "Glee," "Frasier" (Emmy Award nomination), and three years as Libby Thatcher on the ABC series "Life Goes On." She is a founding member of both the Drama Division of The Juilliard School and John Houseman's The Acting Company and the author of the New York Times best-seller Patti LuPone: A Memoir.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos