Neil Patrick Harris has sparked online backlash over comments he made about Nick Jonas during a 2015 appearance on “The Wendy Williams Show.”
In a resurfaced clip from the interview, the 49-year-old actor admitted that he had a “crush” on the now 30-year-old singer.
“And he was really good-looking before it was kind of allowed to think he was good-looking, which was a bit of a problem, you kind of had to wait till he turned to be, you know, 19 to 20, and then you’re like, ‘What is happening?’” added Harris.
Harris made the remarks during the “Hot Seat” segment on the show after Williams asked the “How I Met Your Mother” alum who his “celebrity crush” was, other than his husband David Burtka.
Neil Patrick Harris faced controversy on social media over remarks that he made about Nick Jonas in 2015.
(Jamie McCarthy/WireImage)
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“David knows it, so I guess it’s not a bad thing to say…Nick Jonas,” Harris responded.
The “Jealous” singer was 23 at the time of Harris’ appearance on Williams’ talk show while the “Doogie Howser, M.D.” actor was 42.
Representatives for Harris did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jonas was 12 when he and his brothers Kevin and Joe formed the boy band The Jonas Brothers in 2005. They initially gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel and skyrocketed to fame after releasing their self-titled second studio album in 2007.
Harris’ remarks were blasted by online critics when the resurfaced clip was recently posted on TikTok with the caption, “How do celebs get away with comments like this? He was 42 here.”
“This is completely inappropriate,” one social media user wrote, while another chimed in, “neil is always doing something problematic.”
“I love his characters but him as a person… yikes,” one critic added.
“That’s disgusting,” another commented with a nauseated smiley face emoji.
“Sometimes certain things shouldn’t be said out loud,” one user wrote while another noted, “Bro tried to save it with the ‘19 to 20’”.
Jonas was 12 when he and his brothers Kevin and Joe formed the boy band The Jonas Brothers in 2005.
(Getty Images)
Some critics took issue with the studio audience’s reaction to Harris’ comments.
“not the crowd laughing,” one user wrote, adding a grimacing smiley face emoji.
“Jesus. the 2nd awkward laugh from the crowd. they eventually went hang on a minute,” another added.
However, some of Harris’ fans came to his defense with one user writing, “Why would they not get away with this? Simply saying this is no criminal offence,”
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“There is nothing wrong with this comment,” another fan said.
This isn’t the first time Harris has been called out by fans. In May, the two-time Emmy Award winner apologized after a morbid joke he made about Amy Winehouse’s death resurfaced.
Harris and Burtka displayed the “The Corpse of Amy Winehouse” buffet platter at their Halloween party just months after her death in 2011.
“A photo recently resurfaced from a Halloween-themed party my husband and I hosted 11 years ago,” Harris told Entertainment Weekly in a statement at the time. “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.”
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