A Resurfaced Clip of Neil Patrick Harris Talking About Nick Jonas Has Sparked Backlash
Published Oct. 26 2022, 4:41 p.m. ET
Especially in the age of TikTok and viral content, people have been posting clips of interviews from decades ago to call out unacceptable behavior. As Neil Patrick Harris has swiftly discovered, the internet is forever.
Recently, a clip of him on The Wendy Williams Show from 2015 went viral because of the comments he made about musician Nick Jonas. What did Neil Patrick Harris say about Nick Jonas? Let's unpack what he said in a now-viral TikTok clip.
What did Neil Patrick Harris say about Nick Jonas?
In a TikTok posted by user @girlbossvideos, a clip of Neil on The Wendy Williams Show in 2015 showed him discussing a "celebrity crush." In the video, he says his celebrity crush is Nick Jonas, but it's "a bit of a problem" because of Nick's age. At the time, Neil was 42, and Nick was 22.
Worse, Neil tries to joke about becoming attracted to Nick when he was underage. Neil says, "He was really good-looking before it was kind of allowed to think he was good-looking. Which was a bit of a problem, you kind of had to wait ’til he turned to be, y’know … 19, 20, you’re like: ‘What is happening?’" Although host Wendy Williams laughed along at the explanation, the video is captioned, "How do celebs get away with comments like this?"
Neil then added, "David [Burtka, his husband] knows it, so I guess it's not a bad thing to say."
His comments on The Wendy Williams Show did not inspire enthusiasm from fans, who responded with disgust. Some users in the comments section wrote things like, "Neil is always doing something problematic," and, "Sometimes certain things shouldn’t be said out loud," and, "I can't believe he said that."
Although it's clear Neil never acted upon his "crush," many fans pointed out their discomfort that he readily expressed a desire for someone underage knowing that they were underage.
Neil Patrick Harris's comments were not the first time he has been called out in 2022.
Many also brought up Neil's most recent controversy: a graphic meat platter stylized after the late Amy Winehouse's corpse. Thankfully, after the internet backlash he received calling the move distasteful, Neil did apologize for his actions. He told Entertainment Weekly in May 2022, "It was regrettable then, and it remains regrettable now. Amy Winehouse was a once-in-a-generation talent and I'm sorry for any hurt this image caused."
Currently, Neil has not addressed the backlash to his 2015 comments about Nick Jonas. It is unclear if Nick Jonas is aware of the comments either, having just spent time celebrating Diwali with his family.
