It sometimes feels like Neil Patrick Harris really isn’t the “nice guy” that people would have us believe. I always remember that incident where NPH referred to 69-year-old soap opera legend Eric Braeden as a “d-bag” on Twitter because Braeden pulled out of a last-minute guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother – that happened eight years ago, but I always took it as a small window into NPH’s “my sh-t doesn’t stink” character. While I like NPH for the most part, he occasionally does some really cocky and rude sh-t.
The Tony Awards were last night and NPH was NOT the host. He stayed home and live-tweeted the awards, and he had something shady to say about Rachel Bloom, who is the star and creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Bloom was also serving again as the backstage “hostess” at the Tonys – she wore a little hat (like last year) and she was doing the transitions between commercial breaks and such. NPH tweeted this:
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…
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) June 11, 2018
Which is shady. Don’t pretend it’s not shady. He was being a bitchy mean boy and there was absolutely a streak of sexism there too. Rachel Bloom’s response was excellent though:
I’m a big fan of yours. We’ve met numerous times and my husband, Dan Gregor, wrote for “How I Met Your Mother” for 5 years. Notably, he wrote the episode where your character finally meets his father.
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) June 11, 2018
After which NPH had to pretend like he wasn’t being a bitch:
Indeed! Well said. Thanks for the reminder. How was backstage?
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) June 11, 2018
Rachel Bloom is classy. NPH is not. It would have been a nice moment for an apology from Neil. He probably hoped no one would notice. Good luck with that.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He’s a douche. What does “well said” even mean in this context?
he absolutely is. I remember on WWHL or one of AC’s shows, he was just savage with his remarks re: physical appearance of poor Alex lady from first seasons of RHONY.
Never forgot it. When people show you who they really are…………….
Yeah, what a terrible response. I absolutely could see him having a raging bitchy side.
I took “well said” as a subtle acknowledgment she won that one.
He seems to think everything he says is adorable.
Somebody should give him the memo…letting him know…that it’s not…
Well said seems patronizing..
I agree, his comment of “Well said” was patronizing. Like he was judging her response.
I’ve thought for a long time that he has a douchey, arrogant, judgemental vibe about him. And these Tweets of his sure did put that on display.
Gay men often do this I’ve noticed. Everything is a judgment. Especially if it’s toward a woman and often it’s unnecessary and sometimes cruel. Tired of it. It’s not ok. Especially after MeToo, we need to call this out for what it is. They’ve had free pass on this for too long.
Which gay men do you know, Carrie? Because the ones I know don’t constantly cast judgements on anyone, regardless of gender. If your gay friends (assuming you actually have them) are like that maybe it says more about the people you’re surrounded by then gay men in general? Because way to generalise.
@Vox – my brother of nearly 50 years. It’s been hard to realize admittedly but today being the anniversary of our Mothers death, and remembering how he was during that time really brings it home today. Thanks for asking.
I’ve spent a lifetime trying to heal from abuse. Domestic abuse takes many forms and it is not joyful or a good feeling to realize how it manifests within a family. Gay men themselves have written about their misogyny. Not all gay men, but those who are holding a disdain for women and girls continue to get a pass because they’re gay. Abuse is harmful. Ever since pulling myself out and away to safety, I’ve viewed gay men who write in press and otherwise through a detached lens of what we know about forms of abuse and how it manifests. It’s there too often, and it’s bad.
Beyond my own experience, look at real housewives shows and who created them. It’s become accepted form of entertainment. Misogyny as tv.
I’m sorry you feel this way and have experienced this Carrie. … I’m a gay man and I love and respect women. (btw…I had two sisters, that have passed away, and I miss them very much)
Raptor- agreed. He should have just said, “God I’m an idiot!” Or “shit you’re right, that’s embarrassing” or something to that effect and recovered better from showing his bitchy side.
Exactly!
Carrie1, I don’t know if it’s so much a problem with gay men in general, since I’ve known many who were and are intersectional feminists; my brother, however, is a total misogynist. His only concern is for other gay men. He trolls message boards just like MRA. I don’t know how we manage to share 50% DNA
@CharlotteCharlotte – yes, I know what you mean. Thank you for sharing this. I’m sorry you’ve dealt with similar. I know it’s not easy. I love my brothers but abuse is abuse and those of us left to heal from it are allowed to speak up. I thought it was a DNA thing exclusively but working through the trauma brought the truth. Nobody talks about it and it’s concerning.
Oh my god. I would be so embarrassed if I did that and everyone is watching. (I should be embarrassed otherwise, but you know what I mean).
I agree. It is so embarrassing that I felt embarrassed for him even if he was not.
Ditto.
There is no such thing as a good man in hw. I am still in love with his family.
I know! And, regardless of her being “someone” or not, that was really g*dda*ned rude!
Sorry but she was being hella annoying I honestly thought it was some nobody that won a competition to go backstage
A nobody? Nice Neil.
I’ve never seen her show I’m from the UK and as far as I’m aware it doesn’t air here. What he says was rude for sure. But let’s not pretend that she was actually good at what she was doing last night.
Yah, she’s annoying for sure… but just cause she’s annoying doesn’t mean NPH wasn’t rude.
I have no idea who she is and I have no feelings either way towards Neil, but if someone says “like” and “oh my god” that often on tv it isn’t professional and it IS annoying as hell. He should’ve kept the snark to himself though.
I didn’t know who she was either, and the backstage “comedy” bits were annoying. “Nobody” isn’t a nice term, but I think most of us got the true intention of her comment, someone not famous, someone who won a contest, etc. It’s not like the word nobody is a slur or something.
Now NPH may be a douche, I don’t know much about him, but this tweet from him is hardly douchey. I mean you have to be a real snowflake to take a big offense at this. Rachel Bloom’s tweet back was fine too. I think Twitter by definition has a bit of snark to it.
Have we all turned into Donald Trump, and now take great offense at mildly derogatory comments? I swear twice in the last few days, I’ve had to read and re-read a comment to see what all the conniption fit is about it, and I just don’t get it. What is going on people?
It’s MeToo and thank goodness for it. People are waking up to the impact all the mild judgy comments have and that they actually hurt people when it’s not checked.
Rachel Bloom was on last year too and did the backstage thing. And NPH watches the Tonys every year and should’ve known that. I’m a casual Tony watcher and I even knew who she was. He was just being rude
So he was trying to be snide, and got caught because she not only saw it, but knows him? Busted!
What was he thinking? Beyond rude. She handled it extremely well.
I’m team #RachelBloom
Same! She’s so talented, Crazy ex girlfriend is such an awesome show – I can’t wait for the next season
Neil Harris is a douche and has been for many, many years. I cannot with that dude.
I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around this dispute all morning. Like, what was he thinking? He had to know how that would go down in a public forum in the age of celebrity.
Edited to add that I LOVE her skirt there. I wish she’d gone with a different top, but it’s a very nifty design.
A little background on the top. She asked the twitterers to come up with a tee of Sondheim smoking a joint for the Tonys. A designer named Alison, who happens to be the sister of Jason Segel, designed this for her, per the request. Fun story. 🙂
Hah, Jason Segel also from HIMYM.
Yeah, sure NPH had NO idea whatsoever who she could have been /s
Never bought into this guy–he’s talented but a huge douche. Good for Rachel! That’s how you stay classy.
I remember when he hosted the Oscars, the women who won documentary feature made a lovely, impassioned speech and when NPH returned to stage immediately afterward, he made some bitchy aside about their dresses. It completely reduced the moment—a crowning professional achievement in an oft overlooked and underfunded category—into a woman’s fashion choice/what she could afford to wear. Haven’t cared for him since.
Good on Rachel Bloom for taking it back to him.
Meow!
I agree that was rude, especially the shade of who is that lady? But why is there a streak of sexism? Asking seriously.
Rachel’s response was so good and classy though. Imagine how many silly arguments over social media could be avoided if everyone had her touch.
Yeah I didn’t see that either. I’ve been wondering about it too. I think maybe some people because a bit over sensitive when it comes to that topic and see problems where there are none? Nevertheless: NPH remains cancelled.
A very telling tweet.
Judgy comments are ok, and cute when they’re coming from my kid.
Nice adulting there Neil.
I don’t see the problem honestly. He was live tweeting the event as he watched, and the bits with Rachel were odd and awkward. I saw hundreds of tweets that basically echoed his ‘who is this and what on earth is she doing’ sentiments. It’s not like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a big hit show, most people don’t know her. He was being a bit snarky, but that’s kind of the point of most live tweeting, and he was hardly brutal.
I honestly found her response quite odd. She knows how many people celebrities meet, so she can’t really think he should immediately recognise her as the wife of a writer who worked on his show 7-8 years ago or as one of the extras who was in an episode.
He’s credited with writing 50 episodes of HIMYM. That’s a lot more than just an extra for a day.
she’s not some 8 years ago guy’s wife, she’s an acclaimed comedian, both author, and a performer, and she’s been on the scene for a couple of years now, winning stuff like Golden Globe, so it is kind of odd, that NPH, who happens to be in the same genre and medium, does not know ‘who that woman is’. Rachel is a national treasure for what she achieved with Crazy Ex GF, and NPH is ‘indeed’ a royal douche.
But she’s the one who described herself by what her husband does for a living.
Her husband worked on the same show for years. That’s why.
Plus she played the same role at the Tonys last year. So he didn’t notice then? I don’t believe he seriously had no idea.
That really sucks. He sounds annoyed because he wasn’t the center of attention at the Tony’s this year. I definitely get the same vibe from him that you mentioned above. He seems to be pretty full of himself.
He’s always been a jerk, nothing new there. Glad that he outed himself for all to see.
I’m confused what exactly is the deal here.
I feel like I have contact douchery for not knowing who she is, either. But I’m not in the industry and I wouldn’t have tweeted that, either. Surely her name came up on screen once or twice if she was doing commentary backstage?
Sort of off topic but NPH and Kelly Ripa used to be besties, spending Thanksgivings together and she was in attendance at his pretty small wedding. He used to fill in for cohost often. She never speaks of him anymore and they do not follow each other on IG. I’d love to know the story behind that.
Thanks, ks. I remember how they were besties and realize now that she never speaks of him or has him on the show anymore. I always thought he seemed like he could be a real jerk.
After he & his husband had a dead Amy Winehouse cake made for their Halloween party, I was done.
OMG!
I did not know about the cake, I looked up this news just now. The pictures in the blog that I found showed me the cake was even worse than I imagined. How insensitive must one be to do something like that? Ans how detached from reality and empathy? What strikes me the most is that not one in the couple disagreed and with every evidence it did not cross their minds that it was heartless and inappropriate, to say the less. Imagine being a relative, a friend of Winehouse and seeing this.
Three months after she died too. And the cake was much worse than I imagined as well.
Wow, I’ve learned a lot about NPH reading all this. I’ve always liked him, so it’s very disappointing to hear that he has a history of douchebaggery.
Wasn’t NPH a bit of a d-bag about the problematic storylines in Three Billboards? Roxane Gay even called him out? I can’t recall what happened after that but I know that was the first thing that made me question my love for him.
I have ALWAYS thought this about him! Saw him and hubby on Oprahs Sunday Show and he came across as a tyrant. His husband seemed a bit tense/afraid. Just small things but I noticed.