Hugh Laurie apologises for his scathing 'drunk' takedown of critic's House review

Hugh Laurie has apologised to a reporter for “drunkenly” blasting their review of his US drama House.

The actor, 66, had called out freelance journalist Janet Murray for critiquing the formulaic storylines of the beloved medical series, which ran from 2004 to 2012.

He replied to the online review, which went viral on X, with a lengthy post that seemed to channel his grouchy titular character Gregory House’s sarcasm.

Laurie has now apologised to Murray, after the London-based journalist said she faced heavy “trolling” from his fans over their “online fight”.

The Night Manager star wrote on X: “I’m sorry if people have been having a go at you because of my tweet.

“Not at all the plan. I was very slightly drunk and already upset about something that had nothing to do with you.”

He added: “If it’s any comfort, I got it in the neck too. I’m a thin-skinned t**t, apparently, even though it wasn’t my skin. I was sticking up for the writers who I adored.

“Obviously I shouldn’t have cited Bach/Kahlo/Moore - asking for trouble - and would have done better to go for the 10,000 blues songs written around the same 12 bar chord structure. I’ve listened to most of them and will keep doing so. Because we love what we love.”

Murray had said in her original review earlier this week that she struggled to get through the “same narrative” in the episodes of series one.

“Late to the party, but I've started watching Season 1 of House. Same narrative every episode: Patient has mysterious illness,” she wrote.

“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 - who won two consecutive Golden Globes in 2006 and 2007 for his turn in House – hit back: “Thanks for your critique, Janet.

“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 6 minutes long. NBC weren’t happy.

“Then we tried some where House never gets it right and the patient dies. The audience wasn’t happy.”

He went on: “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.”

Laurie concluded: “Nonetheless, I look forward to your first novel!”

Murray replied, “Well this was unexpected. And not the slightest bit patronising,” along with a laughing emoji.

After he apologised, she said: “Thank you. ‘Having a go’ is probably an understatement but I appreciate the apology and recognise you may have been sticking up for colleagues. 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.”

One online user pointed out to Laurie: “The series stopped 14 years ago. Is it really worth going to such an effort to put someone who thinks it might be a bit ‘samey’ in their place?

“It was a popular, long-running series and consensus is that you were great in it. Isn’t that enough?”

The actor replied: “I put no more effort into my message than you have into yours. It just happens to be closer to my heart.”

Others told Murray it was a “badge of honour” to receive a response from Laurie.

House is Laurie’s arguably best known role to date. He was nominated in the Best Actor category for six consecutive years at the Golden Globes during the drama’s run.

It remains popular on streaming platforms and clips from the series are picking up a new generation of fans on TikTok.

Laurie previously described that period of his life as a “nightmare”.

“I had some pretty bleak times, dark days when it seemed like there was no escape,” he told the Radio Times in 2013.

“And having a very Presbyterian work ethic, I was determined never to be late, not to miss a single day’s filming.”

“You wouldn’t catch me phoning in to say, ‘I think I may be coming down with the flu.’ But there were times when I’d think, ‘If I were just to have an accident on the way to the studio and win a couple of days off to recover, how brilliant would that be?’”