British actor Hugh Laurie has apologised after a sharp exchange with a journalist who criticised his award-winning show, House. Laurie, who played the lead role in the long-running medical drama, took issue with comments from British freelance journalist Jane Murray, who had recently started watching the series. The show follows Dr Gregory House, a brilliant but cynical medical genius with an addiction to pain medication, who leads a team of doctors tasked with solving complex and rare medical cases.
The Initial Criticism
In a post shared on Monday, Murray said she was “late to the party” but quickly grew critical of the show’s format. “Same narrative every episode,” she posted on X. Laurie, who won two Golden Globes for the role, responded with a sarcastic reply, describing her review as a “trenchant analysis”.
Laurie’s Sarcastic Response
Laurie’s response quickly gained attention among his 1.2 million followers and prompted a wave of criticism directed at Murray. “The result has been some fairly horrific trolling. It turns out House fans are even more abusive than trans activists (and that’s saying something),” Murray later posted. She also shared a link to an article she had written about her “online fight with Hugh Laurie”.
The Apology
On Tuesday, Laurie returned to X to apologise, saying he wanted to defend the show’s writers and admitted he was “slightly drunk” when he posted the tweet. “I’m sorry if people have been having a go at you because of my tweet,” Laurie posted. “Not at all the plan. I was very slightly drunk and already upset about something that had nothing to do with you.” He also acknowledged that his own comments had drawn criticism. “I’m a thin-skinned twat, apparently, even though it wasn’t my skin. I was sticking up for the writers who I adored.”
The Online Fight
The “online fight” began on Monday when Murray first shared her thoughts on House’s format. “Late to the party, but I’ve started watching Season 1 of House,” Murray posted on X. “Same narrative every episode: Patient has mysterious illness. Hugh Laurie (House) gets diagnosis wrong. Patient nearly dies. Hugh Laurie gets diagnosis wrong again. Gets threatened with being fired. Patient nearly dies again. Hugh Laurie has last minute leftfield idea. Gets diagnosis right. Doesn’t get fired. Eight seasons of this?”
Laurie was clearly unimpressed by the critique. Responding on X, he sarcastically thanked Murray for her assessment before poking fun at the way she had written it. “We actually tried a couple of episodes where House (Hugh Laurie) (please put the brackets in the right place) gets it right first time, but they were only six minutes long,” Laurie wrote. “NBC weren’t happy. Then we tried some where House never gets it right and the patient dies. The audience wasn’t happy. One could apply your trenchant analysis to other art forms: JS Bach wrote 30 Goldberg variations on the same chord structure; Frida Kahlo painted 50 portraits of herself; Henry Moore, what?? The point is, or was, variations on a theme; if all you see is hospital, medical blah blah, then it wasn’t meant for you. Nonetheless, I look forward to your first novel!”
Laurie’s comments went viral overnight, with fans of the show joining the discussion. While many simply defended the show, others criticised Murray for her take on the series. “As a novelist known for sometimes responding in public to my (dumber) critics, f*** yeah. You tell them, House!” one X user replied. Murray said while working in the media had taught her to take criticism “on the chin”, others may have found the reaction “distressing”.
Resolution
Murray later responded to Laurie’s apology and thanked him for reaching out. “‘Having a go’ is probably an understatement but I appreciate the apology and recognise you may have been sticking up for colleagues,” Murray said. “For what it’s worth, I like the show — despite the repetition — and I like you in it. The response to my initial post was so warm-hearted and affectionate towards House, which perhaps made what followed all the more surprising. Anyway, no hard feelings. I’m hoping you’ll be back for another series of Tehran.”
