Neil Patrick Harris has expressed his remorse after a picture recently resurfaced from his 2011 Halloween party depicting a buffet platter designed to resemble the late Amy Winehouse's corpse.
The 'Back to Black' singer passed away from alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, when she was 27 years old. Some months after her tragic death, Harris and his husband David Burtka hosted a party featuring a meat platter of "The Corpse of Amy Winehouse."
It's been 11 years since that very party, and recently, pictures of the dark gag reappeared on social media. Harris has now issued a response to the more than decade-old joke.
“A photo recently resurfaced from a Halloween-themed party my husband [David Burtka] and I hosted 11 years ago,” Harris said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly on Monday. “It was regrettable then, and it remains regrettable now.”
He added: “Amy Winehouse was a once-in-a-generation talent, and I’m sorry for any hurt this image caused.”
When images of the platter began making the rounds, the 48-year-old How I Met Your Mother star copped a great deal of backlash from people on the web.
“I don’t care if it was 10 years ago, Neil Patrick Harris getting an ‘Amy Winehouse’s Corpse’ meat platter 3 months after her tragic death is so disturbing. That’s someone’s daughter, friend, loved one, and is undeniably her,” one person tweeted.
“The way amy winehouse was treated before and after her death is so insanely disgusting :/ she deserved so much better. also f–k you neil patrick harris,” a second person added.
“Amy Winehouse dies tragically young and you serve a replica of her corpse as a meat platter shortly after her death? That’s next level deplorable,” a third agreed.
Since his apology, however, man fans have chimed in to support the star, with one writing: “So Neil Patrick Harris apologized for an 11 year old Amy Winehouse joke. Talk about grave digging to bring up something so old. Might as well bring the corpse back up with you since you’re already down there.”
“People are mad bc Neil Patrick Harris had a platter of food in the shape of Amy Winehouse? Yet, the second a celebrity dies, y’all flood the internet with memes. The math isn’t mathing. Make it make sense. Stop reaching,” another agreed.
