Neil Patrick Harris cracks ill-timed joke after Oscar winner talks about son's suicide
Neil Patrick Harris stoked the wrath of Twitter for cracking an ill-timed joke about one Oscar winner's fashion just after she spoke about her son's suicide.
In her Oscar-acceptance speech, Dana Perry — producer of the "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1" which won an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Short Subject category — spoke about her son Evan, who committed suicide in 2005.
"We should talk about suicide out loud," Perry said as the "walkoff" music played.
Evan's suicide was the topic of a documentary Perry directed in 2009 called "Boy Interrupted."
Dana's speech won applause from the audience inside the Dolby Theatre and on social media from suicide prevention groups around the world.
Harris then returned to the stage with a one-liner poking fun at Perry's gown, a black frock that featured several round fuzzy black puffs of fabric.
"It takes a lot of balls to wear a dress like that," Harris joked.
After Perry's heartfelt message, Twitter was not exactly amused:
Poor taste there, NPH. Woman dedicates award to dead son, raises awareness of suicide, and you do that. Work on that, @TheAcademy
— Jackie O'Shea (@thursday_mornin) February 23, 2015
Win Oscar, dedicate award to son who died from suicide. Neil Patrick Harris makes fun of your dress 3 sec later. Gross. #Oscars2015
— Ashley Ratcliffe (@ashratcliffe) February 23, 2015
Winner mentions that her son committed suicide. Neil Patrick Harris immediately jokes about her dress. Live TV isn't easy. #Oscars2015
— Terry Meiners (@terrymeiners) February 23, 2015
"WE NEED THIS WOMAN TO STOP TALKING ABOUT SUICIDE AWARENESS ITS CUTTING INTO NEIL PATRICK HARRIS' BALL JOKE TIME"
— ♡ Brian Essbe ♡ (@SortaBad) February 23, 2015
Distasteful of Patrick Harris to make that joke about her dress, seconds after she had the guts to talk about her son's suicide. #Oscars
— Phil Havercroft (@Phil_Havercroft) February 23, 2015
To be fair, some fans did laud Harris for lightening the mood.
You think you can kill the mood with a suicide reference?? Fool! Neil Patrick Harris has improvised dress jokes to segue out of ANY tragedy.
— Mark Little (@markmarklittle) February 23, 2015
"I love that dress," is the new industry standard for transitioning out of a conversation about suicide. #oscars2015
— Funny Or Die (@funnyordie) February 23, 2015
"Takes a lot of balls to wear that dress." Damn it @ActuallyNPH you went where I couldn't and fast! 🙌 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/o2pMdRgb5a
— Charles Manning (@CharlesEManning) February 23, 2015
Takes a lot of balls to make a dress joke right after a suicide statement, @actuallynph. #oscars
— Carla Zanoni (@carlazanoni) February 23, 2015
One Twitter gave Harris the benefit of the doubt - rather than just being tone deaf, perhaps the host hadn't heard Perry's comment about suicide prevention.
I'm guessing Neil Patrick Harris probably didn't hear the suicide remark. God, at least I hope not.
— Paula Simons (@Paulatics) February 23, 2015
Perry, for her part, was reportedly not offended.
Backstage, someone told Dana Perry, who mentioned her son's suicide, about NPH's dress joke. She laughed aloud. Not offended. #Oscars
— Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) February 23, 2015
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