Neil Patrick Harris apologizes for 'regrettable' Amy Winehouse corpse joke after photo resurfaces
Miikka Skaffari/FilmMagic
- Neil Patrick Harris has apologized for his Amy Winehouse Halloween party joke from 11 years ago.
- Harris served a meat platter labeled "The Corpse of Amy Winehouse" at a party months after she died.
- Harris told Entertainment Weekly that the joke was "regrettable" after photos resurfaced last week.
Neil Patrick Harris apologized for an Amy Winehouse corpse joke just months after she died, following backlash from fans.
Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning in July 2011 after battling drug and alcohol addiction throughout her career.
Entertainment Weekly reported that three months after the "Rehab" singer's tragic death, Harris and husband David Burtka presented a buffet platter labeled "The Corpse of Amy Winehouse" during a Halloween party.
The "How I Met Your Mother" actor has now apologized through a statement to EW, saying that the joke was "regrettable" after a photo of the platter resurfaced on Twitter and Reddit last week.
"A photo recently resurfaced from a Halloween-themed party my husband and I hosted 11 years ago," Harris said. "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."
According to BuzzFeed News, the photo of the platter was originally shared in a now-deleted Twitter post by actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson's husband Justin Mikita, who attended the party.
Insider has reached out to representatives for both Neil Patrick Harris and Justin Mikita.
Winehouse released just two studio albums before her death, "Frank" in 2003 and "Back to Black" in 2006. The latter won five Grammys in 2008, including best pop vocal album. "Back to Black" is highly regarded by music fans and is the second bestselling album of the 21st century in the UK, behind Adele's "21."
"Amy," a documentary about the singer's life, won the Oscar for best documentary feature at the 2016 Academy Awards.
In 2021, to mark the 10th anniversary of Winehouse's death, her father Mitch Winehouse said it was his "mission" to have Winehouse remembered for her music rather than her personal struggles.
He also revealed a biopic about Winehouse's life is in the works, telling The Sun: "There's huge appetite for a biopic — the success Amy's music continues to have proves that and it's important we do our best to make sure it is looked after."