Patti LuPone Has Given Up Her Equity Card, Seemingly Quits Broadway Amid Lillias White Headlines

On Monday (October 17), Broadway legend Patti LuPone sent theater fans into a panic over a tweet she sent out.

If you don’t know, there’s a bit of backstory that may help clarify some things.

A few days ago, an audience member with hearing loss, Samantha Coleman, was at the show Hadestown and used a captioning device during the performance. The show’s star, Lillias White, called out Samantha during the show while mistaking the device for a recording device.

Patti LuPone has previously called out Broadway patrons for using recording devices while on stage. In 2015, she confiscated an audience member’s phone while on stage. More recently, during a talk-back she participated in, Patti went on a rant against a theater-goer who refused to wear a mask.

Her name has been mentioned quite a bit on social media over the difference in treatment between Patti and Lillias. Lillias has been the subject of online bullying and racism since the issue went viral.

Samantha even issued a tweet after the whole incident went viral, saying, “Ms. White is not a malicious person, nor is she the enemy,” adding Lillias‘ social media pages “have been flooded with ageist & racist comments.”

Now, it seems as if Patti LuPone has caught wind of her name being mentioned…and then also announced some major news in the process.

Click inside to see the tweet…