Rachel Bloom is the creator and star of Crazy Ex Girlfriend. I’m not incredibly aware of her, but I know who she is and I know why she’s famous (because of the show). I know she’s won awards for Crazy Ex Girlfriend, and I can identify her on sight, despite the fact that I’ve never met her. Neil Patrick Harris cannot say the same. He tweeted out some really rude sh-t as he was live-tweeting the Tony Awards on Sunday night – go here to recap. Bloom was doing backstage interviews on-camera and taking care of some of the transitions, all on live TV. NPH tweeted: “Who is the woman in the top hat backstage at @TheTonyAwards? Gideon remarked that she says ‘like’ and ‘oh my god’ a lot. I’m confused…” Bitchy. Shady.
Rachel responded when she could that she and Neil have met “numerous times” and that her husband wrote on How I Met Your Mother for years. Neil responded with “Indeed! Well said. Thanks for the reminder. How was backstage?” Still bitchy. So… GQ decided to check in with Rachel and she had some stuff to say about that uncomfortable moment:
How she felt after the tweet-exchange: She felt “kind of devastated” after reading his comment. Initially, “I was actually going to tweet, ‘This makes me sad.’ But then I was like, “Ehhhhhhhhhh…I don’t want to give him that, necessarily.’ Look, I’ve met him a couple times—very recently, backstage in the dressing room of a Broadway show. And we hung out for a solid 15 minutes with the star of this Broadway show. It was just bizarre to me that it wouldn’t ring a bell. And also, that he wouldn’t Google it.”
Bloom says that NPH is obviously “not a writer”: “His version of a Twitter joke is to just kind of…live-comment to Twitter followers with kind of random, unformed thoughts. And fame does that to you—where you think every kind of random, unformed thought is a gem, because you get 10,000 likes from it. He has, like, 27 million Twitter followers. And that makes me scared about fame in general. The yes-men. Even if what you’re saying is, I don’t know, kind of weird or unoriginal, you’re still getting a lot of approval and dopamine surges for saying it. And I really, really hope that I can surround myself with people who will call me out on my s–t, so that—even if I ever were to have 27 million Twitter followers—I would be just kind of…a person first, and a famous person second.”
Overall, what she thought of the moment: It was “random,” but not “terrible…But I think, if he wants to be gracious: He has 27 million Twitter followers. He could check out an episode of the musical TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend—which is, right now, the only musical show on television. And tell his 27 million Twitter followers to check it out. I wouldn’t hate that!”
Soon after the GQ interview dropped, NPH tweeted his apology. Note that he didn’t apologize Sunday night when he was rude and she called him out. He didn’t apologize the next day, or the day after that. He waited to see if it was going to be a bigger deal. He waited to see if she was really upset about it. She was. So that’s when he apologized.
Sincere apologies to @Racheldoesstuff for my Tony tweet. I failed to research her before pressing ‘send’, and what I thought was a funny comment in our living room must have been far from funny to read, backstage, mid show. As a performer and a parent, I should have know better.
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) June 13, 2018
“I failed to research her before pressing send” is still f–king bitchy, right? Especially since she made it clear to GQ that she stood with him for 15 minutes recently and had a conversation with him, and that they’ve met multiple times before that. For the love of God. Way to minimize her even further, NPH. In any case, Bloom accepted his apology. Which is fine, because I loved that she basically called him a fart-sniffing narcissist surrounded by sycophants.
Hi, thank you for this! Apology accepted.
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) June 13, 2018
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Good! Because that’s exactly what he is!
She should’ve twitted THAT quote from Sharon Tate’s character on Valley of the Dolls…
I don’t believe him at all. His bread and butter is TV and some Broadway. He knows exactly who she is, which are the cool, critically acclaimed shows, and who the top tier writers are. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is really about him not getting cast for something. I have seen grudges held for less in community theater!
He also is too much of a self-involved a$$hole to just admit he was being bitchy because he’s not a writer and he thinks bitchy = funny.
I agree it could well be over a grudge. The tweet, knowing millions of people would see/read it, was just too mean-spirited.–basically pointing out that she was a “nobody”, while she was just trying to do a job. I don’t believe for one second that he didn’t know who she is. I also don’t believe that the comment came from his son, it was probably just a convenient cover for his own thoughts.
Neil Patrick Harris is a mean-spirited jerk. The disturbing gory “corpse of Amy Winehouse” Halloween decoration in his home just 3 months after her death (while millions of people, myself included, were mourning her tragic death). The inappropriate public trashing of Eric Braeden because he was butt-hurt over something. Then there was the comment that I read about him making once, when asked something about bookstores in Harlem (where he had just moved to) and his reply was “There are no bookstores in Harlem because people in Harlem don’t read.” (paraphrased) And then just recently his listing on Twitter of the items he’d like to receive as gifts for his birthday, and actually providing an actual address for fans to mail the gifts too. (I just found that bizarre & inappropriate given that he’s a multi-millionaire.)
I think he’s a trash human being. Never liked him.
Something has ALWAYS rubbed me the wrong way about him. I was on bedrest and watched a week of him on Regis and Kelly back in 2011 and I remember texting my friend something irked me about him, like there was a kind of edge to his niceness. She said I was crazy and hormonal. So I’m glad to see I’m not crazy lol!
Agreed, complete jerk…booooo, Neil. I refuse to do the whole thing, he’s just a person, NEIL…YOU SUCK.
Is it that hard to JUST BE NICE?
I ask myself this question just about every day.
Me, too, lobbit. Definitely every day. Usually more than once. Our culture is effed up.
Right?????
Every day this question comes to mind for me too!
Yes! Thank you!
Especially when your not so nice comments are broadcast to 27 million people, and then picked up by the gossip columns?
He’s been around long enough to know how it goes. It was a bitchy move, and I hope she really is satisfied with his apology.
Rachel is pretty awesome, her show is really unique and interesting, and she’s very talented and outspoken. She’s doing one more season, and then I’m eager to see what she does next.
I know this is rude and unpopular thing to say but the Tony’s were amazing and for example Andrew Garfield made an emotional plea for better understanding, compassion for the LBGT community.. meanwhile a gay man makes fun of a slightly plump woman and thinks its OK (as someone said above to 27m followers) but it was mean-spirited. I love Rachel Bloom..she did look kind of frumpy and a bit goofy and nervous. Anyway, it made me wonder why a so-called underdog (gay man) can be cruel to a plump white woman and no one really cares..yet we go on and on and on and on about certain issues…
Um, could you stop calling her “plump”?
@Geneva
I don’t think what you are saying is rude. Wealthy white gay men– especially boomers and gen x, can be extremely prejudiced and problematic as a demographic. It seems like many are still acting out norms of patriarchy regardless of their minority identity.
I’m a queer woman, and I often notice misogyny, derision toward lesbians, transphobia, fatphobia, and callous classism from people who fall into that demographic. Being a minority in one regard doesn’t always counter balance the extreme privilege of being a wealthy white man.
Sorry, did he say ANYTHING about her appearance other than the top hat? If not, you’re bringing up her weight and using words like frumpy. He didn’t. His comment was shitty, but let’s not pile on by saying things about her appearance. Not. The. Point.
Apparently these days it is.
I agree, it’s too easy to be cruel to each other in the age of social media.
I was a NPH fan after watching his AD vid and talk show appearances…now reading this and his Amy Winehouse debacle, am rethinking that…
That Amy Winehouse cake was bad, I somehow missed it the first time around but saw it mentioned in comments on here, it was so crass and awful. What was he thinking?
This makes me sad because I LOVE crazy ex girlfriend. It’s an awesome show and I wish it was watched more. Also because I love NPH and I wish he was better than this. 🙁
I have been trying to get into Crazy Ex-Girlfriend b/c its on Netflix and my friend loves it. I am a very anxious person and I think some of the plot gets to me lol. I have also had a creepy stalker so while it is supposed to be funny and the lead is obviously not physically threatening, it makes me uncomfortable. 🙁
Your complaints are valid. Keep watching! There is a long game to this show. It has been almost mind bending the way things were thought out in advance. So good!
I watched the first season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but I quit after the *** Rap Battle song (I’m not going to type that word). I don’t understand how it made it through however many levels of approval are required for it to even air, and I HATE that so many people liked that song. Anti-Semitic and sexist slurs are not fun entertainment, no matter who wrote them or who is saying them.
Both of the women in the ‘Rap Battle’ were Jewish. They were poking fun at each other.
It is such an awesome show! It’s funny and fun, plus the songs are genuinely fantastic… it’s maintained it’s quality over the three season and I think it’s so smart they are doing one more season only to make sure it doesn’t lose its standard.
Rachel Bloom is brilliant, has an amazing voice and is really gorgeous on the show.
NPH is a bitter creep – I’ve always found him really overwrought as an actor, maybe he’s jealous because Rachel can sing but also act
I cannot state enough the awesomeness of this show, and I do this in spite of me passionately hating musicals. This is the first (and probably will be the only) musical-ish thing I ever watch(ed). It’s not perfect, and it has its boring moments (some characters are just too predictable, and sometimes the crazyness level is a bit too much) but in the end its a really really good show and I am eagerly waiting for its return. Even the stupid musical stuff is well-done and hilarious.
LOL “as […] a parent I should know better”.. wtf does being a parent have to do with being decent to people in general? Reminds me of “as a father of daughters..”
Yes! Because apparently men don’t need to act decent toward women until they are in a property based relationship with them. I’m only valuable if a man can claim me!! (Insert eye rolls here) I just want to scream all of the time. SCREAM!
Oh! Please add “strong, single mother raised me so I love women” tripe to the list.
To be more aware of your words. It’s basic. You’re helping little kids understand their words and actions can hurt. I’m not seeing how this isn’t incredibly clear in his statement.
It’s not the token gesture. It’s realizing you lead by example and to be more self aware.
One of NPH’s kids said she was saying OMG and like a lot. What he mean’t was he shouldn’t have been quoting his kid to everybody. As a parent he should know better. It didn’t have anything to do with her being a woman.
God! Not everyone has to be super gracious and nice to everyone. Am I the only one that thought this is too far!?
Well, no they don’t. But here it’s a question of context that Bloom explained quite well. They defend the same kind of entertainment and he was less than an ally. Also, he has met her before. I work in the art world and how many times have I told myself “oh, he/she didn’t remember that awesome conversation we had because he/she knows a lot of people…”. And then I have to say to myself “Yeah, but I know a lot of people and I remembered him/her!”
Sometimes you just have to defend your territory and your work and this, for me, was one of those situations.
I’m often in that situation as well and I’m horrible with names and faces. Which is why i make it a point to be gracious, humble and kind every time. I always say, “my memory sucks, so please forgive me, charge it to my head not my heart.” People are really nice about it. But, on the other hand, I would have never tweeted or said the things he said on top of acting like he had no idea who she was.
Jenny, that’s a really sweet way of dealing with forgetting a name or face. Note to NPH and other jerks: See — it’s not that hard.
He went out of his way to be nasty to her. That’s different from just “not being super nice”. She wasn’t complaining that he snubbed her when they met or something, he publicly insulted her to his millions of followers while she was doing a job. So someone asking her how that felt is not unreasonable and neither is her sharing that it hurt.
you dont have to be super nice to everyone but he went out of the way to be a jerk to her in public. That’s rude any way you slice it
I’m sort of chuckling because I was always taught that’s it’s quite important to be as nice and gracious to others as one can be–especially to ones peers! Is that weird?! Is that no longer a thing?!
He’s a famous actor with a massive fan base using his platform to mock a woman of lesser celebrity for…doing her job? That’s literally the definition of punching down. Sure, you don’t technically have the responsibility to be nice, but you sure as shit don’t get to complain when people call you out on being a dick when you decide to do that shit publicly.
By that logic, if he’s not required to be nice and gracious, why can’t we point it out?
I totally understand what you’re saying, and no, as adults we’re not required to be sugary sweet to everyone 24/7. And most comedy is layered with insults, capitalizing on deficiencies with crass and harsh innuendos. That’s what comedy is. And sometimes it’s hard to stomach. And in that vein, sure, I wish people would stop complaining about every little thing and relocate their spines. Here’s the thing though, I never taught my kids that insults, capitalizing on deficiencies with crass and harsh innuendos is funny. I never even hinted. I taught them to shut their mouths if they can’t think of anything decent to say. Basic human decency is as important as finding the funny in our every days. Each of us lives within this balance, and someone with 27 million sets of eyes fixed upon them might think twice before flippantly tossing insults. The fact he didn’t “know” her makes it even worse. If we don’t know someone, they’re fair game for social media slams? Typical bully behavior.
I agree with you. Perhaps she has set him off in the past about something, we don’t really know. I’m sorry but just because he doesn’t care for someone doesn’t make him a d*ck. Was it bitchy shade? Oh yes, but get over it. Too many people are getting their panties in a wad over crap like this when there are more important things in this world we should be focusing on!!
If you’re going to be bitchy to someone — the wife of a colleague, no less — on social media, you’d best be prepared for that person to clap back.
@michelle: you don’t think the breakdown of common decency has anything to do with where we are as a nation? Keep your head in the sand then, right where it belongs.
I mean it’s also not hard to say catty things on social media when you have millions of followers. I mean you CAN but you should also expect some blow back from it.
What does him being a PARENT have to do with this? How about “as a PERSON, a grown man, I should have known better”?!
Yeah, what? Too bad he’s not a “father of daughters” or he could have thrown that in there.
He has a daughter
Of course, all people should be kind and not insulting and should use basic courtesy in their interactions with others. I would say, though, that I have little kids, and I am very aware of the fact that I am modeling behavior for them. They are watching me, and learning how to interact with the world around them as they do. My words and actions shape who they are becoming as they grow, and it is a big responsibility.
I took NPH’s remark to mean that he should have reacted differently because the lesson he taught his child with his behavior and actions was not a good one. Of course you should behave like a decent person regardless of who is or is not watching, but I know that I judge my behavior even more harshly (I’m my own worst critic) when my kids are there to witness it then when they are not.
Fortunately for NPH, in addition to his (IMO) tepid apology to Rachel Bloom, he could have a conversation about kindness and good manners with his son, using his own failure to display either as a jumping-off point.
I tell my kids that I always expect them to be kind, because it costs nothing and it can be so valuable to others. I try to model that behavior for them, and occasionally I don’t do as well as I think I should, and then we talk about it. They learn lessons from my mistakes, and so do I. 🙂
Rachel Bloom is amazing. I love the way she handled this situation. She is also my current girl crush (sorry Eva Green).
*Check out her song F*ck Me Ray Bradbury*
It’s funny how the tweeting and instagramming was deconstructed in this micro-feud. I have to use social media for work too and you DO have to do research before pushing that “send” button.
But famous or ill-advised people think social media is just a platform for their ego.
Indeed, what sounds semi-funny in your living-room is definitely not for Twitter. Using social media when one has a platform has its own kind of responsibility.
I am not against social media and if you follow the right people you become more informed and get a good giggle once in a while. I love how articulate Rachel Bloom was about this.
Also, what sounds funny in your living room frequently isn’t actually that funny period.
Moreso if you’re a popular celebrity, at that. Your words have a much broader reach than Tommy Jones in apartment 8 with his ten followers. What happened is he mocked someone not thinking about the repercussions of what would happen if she saw it and called him out on it. Well, welcome to internet 101!
He didn’t mock her. He just didn’t recognize her. He just repeated what his kid said which is what he meant by “being a parent he should know better.” Your kids always say stuff about other people to you that shouldn’t be repeated.
LOL, he’s a grown man who has worked in the industry for more than twenty years. He would have known exactly how it would read for a celebrity of his stature to refer to another performer (that he’s met several times…whose husband worked on one of his most famous shows) and say “Who is this?” Name branding is everything to these people. I’m glad he apologized for it, but when you have the kind of celebrity reach that he has, you have a responsibility to think about the tone and implications of what you put out there.
Let me be honest, and this is coming from someone who has kids, 99 percent of your social media followers do not want to hear the funny little things your kids say. This could be sent to family in a group text. I have three ladies who post things their kids say at least once a day on facebook. It is really not as funny as they think and to me it’s an invasion of the kid’s privacy. So if that is where he was going, maybe we can ALL learn a lesson from this.
Oh Robert. Nice of you to cape for the white man. Not at all surprising.
I really like everything she said. Very well thought-out and said about fame and yes-men and dopamine surges for likes. And not nasty or spiteful of NPH. Further proves her awesomeness!
Didn’t he pull this kind of $hit on Eric Braeden a few years ago? Not the fronting like he didn’t know him, but shading/being disrespectful after he appeared on HIMYM?
I’m not a musicals fan, so I had to give up on her show halfway thru the first episode, but this makes me love her. Maybe I will give the show another try…
I fastforward through the musical numbers…I do love the show but I’m not a very musical person
Her show is a paridy of musicals.
I’ve seen 100 commercials for that show and had no idea it was a musical until today.
I can’t imagine a circumstance where I would even insult my worst enemy in front of 27 million people. An entertainer earnestly doing her job at the Tony’s???!!’ What a creep.
Can you imagine a voice that size? If I had an audience of 27 million, Trump would get no peace, nope none.
I wish Kim K with her massive following would use her followers to help the planet along with herself. Use her power for good. If she asked people to stop wearing fur, imagine the impact that could have? I think I’d become a follower if she did that. It’s not just Kim either, Mariah, Rhianna, etc. Imagine the Queen with the banner ‘get your pet spayed or neutered’ underneath the Buckingham Palace symbol? Can you imagine the effect? I guess a girl can dream.
For the record I would cheer loud and long at the thought of fur manufacturers going under.
I think he had an imperfect moment. His inner bitch came out. We all experience this, but dont get called out to the same level.
He seems to have a lot of “imperfect moments”. This isn’t his first, second or even third time being nasty to people for no reason. It’s a trend – or very well a character issue. I used to be a huge fan of NPH but over the last few years he has shown his true colors. He’s a catty person by nature and has gotten away with it because of his “nice guy” image.
We all have imperfect moments. Millions. The careless comment or thought without realizing how hurtful it can be. That his have been very public is where we start noticing. But we all do it. I’m empathetic here.
Well, I found her responses hilariously shady. She definitely outwitted him for sure.
I like her point about having 27 million yes men. It rings true. I think that’s what tripped Rosanne up. She was playing to her Trump-supporting yes-men and forgot the rest of the world was watching/reading/listening and she got called out for her racism. Now she wants to backtrack.
NPH showed himself and I like that Rachel took the high road and didn’t wallow in the mud with him.
For three seasons she’s been on TV as the star, writer and producer of her own show which has been nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes and got herself already a Golden Globe, which is the only musical show on TV right now so I’m gonna guess it was maybe the envious kind of shade? He seemed jealous of not being the Tony’s host as he was a couple of times, he hasn’t been nominated as an actor for an Emmy or Golden Globe since 2010… and never got a GG. Just sayin’…
He’s a jackass and now we know.
I also dislike how he used his kid’s voice to throw his shade.
I watched both their shows and can safely say they can both sing, dance and act BUT Rachel has a much more nuanced depth to her acting, I always found him a bit “too annoyingly Broadway”, like he can’t do proper drama in a more nuanced tone, it’s always too overly acted, anyway, after this bitchy behavior, it’s not only his acting that’s annoying…
I had no idea who she was either.
Maybe he didn’t recognize her. Some people are terrible with faces.
I’m one of those people who can speak to a stranger and completely forget them afterwards, unless the subject we were discussing is super interesting or important.
I NPH was being deliberately mean, that’s not a good look.
Her husband wrote over 50 episodes for HIMYM. She stated that they had met numerous times and had even recently spent 15 minutes TOGETHER in a dressing room with one other actor. He knew who she was.
I love Rachel Bloom and I hate that NPH treated her this way. His apology was sh*t, by the way.
Has he had some sort of under chin/neck tuck?
I’d be kind of sad/angry if someone I had met did the whole “Who?” thing. But NPH is just bad at remembering faces/names (some people are like that) or maybe Rachel just isnt as memorable as she thinks she is. But yes, he could have taken the time to figure out who she was first.
It doesn’t matter if he genuinely knew her or not. The tweet was b*tchy and it is cruel to do that to any random person who is less known, less powerful than you.
I don’t like NPH simply because he has done this passive aggressive shit one too many times. I first noticed it when he made an unnecessary remark over Freddie Highmore’s looks while interviewing Armie Hammer and Timothée chalamet on a talk show a few months back. He was trying to flatter Timothée. AT the time i just shrugged it off as a joke that misfired, it was lame. Then I researched and yep this guy always does shit like this when he wants to flatter someone or dislikes someone. He just can’t keep it civil and professional.
He came off as such a dick in this scenario. His career seems to be on a downturn and I feel like his tweet had some jealously behind it.
Well, hopefully she’ll be on the radar of a lot more people (in a good way!) after this. I’ve been meaning to get around to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for a while and this is reminding me of that. She seems cool and it’s getting bumped up my TV priority list!
He once yelled at Patti LuPone. I think he’s a douche but probably not the worst.
Eh, one doesn’t have to be a celeb with million twitter followers to be egoistic. I have been getting “I don’t know her” treatment from former schoolmates, colleagues and even relatives. They think they are cool for not knowing your name or too important to not be bothered to know people. I have this colleague who calls me by a different name each time we meet. Is she really that forgetful or she thinks she is funny for doing that? People do that on comments section all the time when reality show stars or emerging popstars are given a feature, they pretend to not be bothered to google the celeb and are compelled to comment “Who?”. My doctor sees hundreds of patients each week and she would know our names and conditions when we see her for a follow up even without looking at the chart. She is in her 70’s. There is no reason for anyone to do some small time ego tripping.
The fact that so many people are in this thread acting like he didn’t do anything wrong is frankly boggling my mind. He acted like a little bitch, tried to blame his minor children, and IMO deserved to get called out. I’m not sure how people are seeing any other interpretation, whether or not YOU personally know who Rachel is, and whether or not you care for her. “You don’t always have to be nice to everyone…” seriously? Since when? Smh. Trump’s America I guess.
I really don’t like musicals. Never have, never will. I very much enjoy her show though. The musical sections in it are not too many and superbly executed. Much fun is to be had! I highly recommend the show to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.
The guy has always been a conceited ass douche, glad he got called out on it for once.
arrggghhh!!! She’s so whiny!!
Another dude who thinks his shit doesn’t stink….
I am not familiar with her but I love her for this: she did not back down, she called him out on his shit and then she was classy enough to accept his apology which I imagine he accomponied with an eye roll as he hit send. And also I so agree with her – those famous ppl receive a like for every fart only because it makes the common folk to sort of feel a personal connection to a star that these celebrities start thinking their fart is the update to of Channel no. 5.
I am not familiar with her but I love her for this: she did not back down, she called him out on his shit and then she was classy enough to accept his apology which I imagine he accomponied with an eye roll as he hit send. And also I so agree with her – those famous ppl receive a like for every fart only because it makes the common folk to sort of feel a personal connection to a star that they start thinking their fart smell is the new Channel no. 5.