Curtain called out! Jonathan Groff had some harsh words for Madonna in a recent interview with Dot429. The Looking star, 30, was chatting about his role in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton when the interviewer brought up a report that Madonna was banned from the show after attending in April.
Asked whether he was disappointed that the Queen of Pop had been declared persona non grata at the theater, Groff replied, "No. Because that bitch was on her phone. You couldn't miss it from the stage. It was a black void of the audience in front of us and her face there perfectly lit by the light of her iPhone through three-quarters of the show."
According to a report from Playbill.com at the time, Miranda was so irked by the incident that he declined to invite the "Rebel Heart" singer backstage for a photo, as he's been known to do with other stars. He also reportedly tweeted (and then deleted) a message reading: "Tonight was the first time I asked stage management NOT to allow a celebrity (who was texting all through Act 2) backstage. #noselfieforyou"
Madonna's rep, Liz Rosenberg, previously addressed the controversy in a statement to Us Weekly, saying, "It's not true. She was invited backstage four different times. She texted post show when they were doing their fundraising pitch. Madonna had already made a generous donation."
In any case, the "Ghosttown" performer is hardly the only guest who's left an impression on the cast of the show, which is set to open on Broadway after a successful run off-Broadway. First Lady Michelle Obama, for example, attended a matinee earlier on the same day that Madonna was there.
"We were collecting for Broadway Cares after the show, and Mrs. Obama stayed in the audience while the Broadway Cares speech happened, and Lin called her out and the audience applauded for her," Groff recalled. "Then she came backstage and hugged every crew member — the wig girl, all the costume people, every cast member. She said to us — and this is a direct quote — 'This is the greatest piece of art I've ever seen.'"
"It's crazy," the Glee alum continued. "I've never been a part of a theatrical experience in which you have in the audience Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama and Bernadette Peters and Busta Rhymes and Black Thought and Jimmy Fallon and Dick Cheney…"
