Neil Patrick Harris responded to criticism of a resurfaced image from a Halloween party he hosted 11 years ago, which included a buffet platter made to look like the corpse Amy Winehouse.
Winehouse, a genre-defining jazz vocalist and songwriter, died on July 23, 2011 at the age of 27. A few months later, Harris and his husband, David Burtka, hosted a party with a platter that featured a gruesome fake corpse with a cigarette hanging out of its mouth alongside a note that read, “The Corpse of Amy Winehouse.” Below that, the note detailed what was included in the platter: “Beef ribs, pulled pork, chicken sausage in a spicy BBQ sauce.”
On Monday, Harris wrote in a statement to Entertainment Weekly that the act was “regrettable then, and it remains regrettable now.”
“A photo recently resurfaced from a Halloween-themed party my husband and I hosted 11 years ago,” Harris said. “Amy Winehouse was a once-in-a-generation talent, and I’m sorry for any hurt this image caused.”
The image, and the story surrounding it, resurfaced online last week on Twitter. Many users responded vehemently and shared their own opinions of the platter, which some called “disturbing” and “cruel.”
The original image was first posted — and since deleted —on Twitter by Justin Mikita, husband of “Modern Family” actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The incident was also discussed in a 2018 article on Jezebel. It has resurfaced a number of times over the years, but never to a point that compelled Harris to respond, until Monday.
Harris is currently starring as the Baker in the New York City Center production of “Into The Woods” alongside Sara Bareilles and Heather Headley.
