Neil Patrick Harris Is Facing Backlash After His “Disgusting” And “Inappropriate” Comments About Teenage Nick Jonas Resurfaced Online

Neil Patrick Harris is facing backlash after the problematic comments that he made about teenage Nick Jonas resurfaced online.

During a 2015 appearance on The Wendy Williams Show, Neil told the host that he had a crush on Nick before it was “allowed” — which he went on to describe as being “a bit of a problem.”

Nick was just 12 years old when he first found fame as one third of The Jonas Brothers in 2005, and was 22 years old when Neil’s interview was filmed.

Meanwhile, Neil was 42 years old when he made the controversial remarks while taking part in the show’s “hot seat” challenge, which saw Wendy ask him who his “celebrity crush” is.

The How I Met Your Mother star appeared to hesitate for a moment, but then referenced his husband David Burtka as he replied: “David knows it, so I guess it’s not a bad thing to say.”

“Nick Jonas,” Neil stated, raising his eyebrows at Wendy as she shared her approval.

“And he was really good-looking before it was kind of allowed to think he was good-looking,” Neil went on. “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?’”

Wendy laughed along at the time, but what Neil said sparked a very different reaction when the clip was recently reposted to TikTok.

The video was shared alongside the caption: “How do celebs get away with comments like this? He was 42 here.”

And it didn’t take long for the TikTok to gain traction, with many people flocking to the comment section to share their shock at what Neil had said.

“This is completely inappropriate,” one person wrote. Another added: “He’s always been problematic.”

Someone else echoed: “That’s disgusting 🤢” and one more commented: “I love his characters but him as a person... yikes.”

Several others brought up Neil’s controversial Amy Winehouse Halloween meat platter that resurfaced online earlier this year.

“Not surprised,” one user wrote. “He literally threw a party and the main course was meant to be amy winehouses dead body.”

“Between this and the Amy wine house thing I’m really starting to go off nph 🤢,” another said. Someone else asked: “Remember shortly after Amy passed he had a cake of her dead body 🥺 why hasn’t he been cancelled yet?”

In case you missed it, Neil faced scrutiny back in May when the “disgusting” and “graphic” platter that he served at a Halloween party after Amy’s death emerged online.

The British singer had publicly battled with alcohol and drug abuse throughout her career, and died of alcohol poisoning in July 2011 at 27 years old.

Just three months later, Neil and David displayed “The Corpse of Amy Winehouse” at their Halloween party buffet. Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s now-husband, Justin Mikita, shared a photo of the platter to Twitter after attending the party.

In the quickly-deleted tweet, Justin wrote: “Look who showed up @ActuallyNPH & @GourmetMD’s Halloween party last night. Looking good.”

The disturbing photo showed a gory depiction of a rotting and bloodied corpse, complete with Amy’s iconic beehive hairdo, and her recognizable tattoos.

In case there was any doubt over who the dish was supposed to represent, a handwritten description placed beside the food read: “The Corpse of Amy Winehouse.”

Detailing what the platter was made out of, the note continued in parenthesis: “Beef ribs, pulled pork, chicken sausage in a spicy BBQ sauce.”

In 2011, the controversy was quickly dismissed and neither Neil or David addressed their decision to serve the dish. But more than a decade later, a Twitter user ignited fresh backlash against the couple when they tweeted about the platter this year.

Shortly after, Neil apologized for the “regrettable” platter in a statement provided to Entertainment Weekly, which read: “A photo recently resurfaced from a Halloween-themed party my husband and I hosted 11 years ago. 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,” it concluded.

But the discourse had led to others bringing up more examples of Neil’s problematic past behavior, including the time he shaded actor and comedian Rachel Bloom back in 2018.

Neil had tweeted: “Who is the woman in the top hat backstage at @TheTonyAwards? [His son] Gideon remarked that she says ‘like’ and ‘oh my god’ a lot. I’m confused…”

In a highly-praised reply, Rachel told Neil that they had met several times in the past and he’d worked closely with her husband.

“I’m a big fan of yours. We’ve met numerous times and my husband, Dan Gregor, wrote for ‘How I Met Your Mother’ for 5 years. Notably, he wrote the episode where your character finally meets his father,” she wrote.

Neil was further criticized for his lackluster response, which read: “Indeed! Well said. Thanks for the reminder. How was backstage?”

Rachel later told GQ that the experience had “kind of devastated” her, especially as she and Neil had hung out “very recently” at a Broadway show.

“The thing he said in response wasn’t really an apology,” she added at the time.

And last year, Mayim Bialik revealed that she and Neil “didn’t speak for a long time” after she went to watch him in a production of Rent in the ’90s and didn’t give him a standing ovation.

BuzzFeed News has contacted Neil’s representative for comment.

More on this

• 8 Times Neil Patrick Harris Was Problematic Or Rude As Hell, Like WOWRyan Schocket · May 14, 2022

• The “Disgusting” And “Graphic” Meat Platter Inspired By Amy Winehouse’s Corpse That Neil Patrick Harris Served At A Party Just 3 Months After Her Death Has Resurfaced OnlineStephanie Soteriou · May 13, 2022

• Rachel Bloom Shaded Neil Patrick Harris About His Tony Awards Tweet And Now He’s ApologizedKrystie Lee Yandoli · June 13, 2018

• Neil Patrick Harris Stopped Speaking To Mayim Bialik After She Refused To Give Him A Standing OvationNatasha Jokic · Sept. 29, 2021