Neil Patrick Harris has apologised after a joke about Amy Winehouse resurfaced more than a decade after it happened.
The How I Met Your Mother star hosted a party with his husband David Burtka in 2011.
At that soirée, there was a meat platter made to look like Winehouse's corpse, and it was horrifyingly realistic.
Advert
The platter was served just a few months after the legendary singer died of alcohol poisoning on July 23.
Justin Mitika, the partner of Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson, reportedly posted a picture of the platter onto social media before quickly deleting it.
He captioned the post with: “Look who showed up at @ActuallyNPH and @GourmetMD’S Halloween party last night. Looking good.”
Advert
That was 11 years ago and the tweet has resurfaced thanks to writer Ashley Reese.
She wrote on social media: “I cannot believe how many very online people over the age of 25 are just now finding out about Neil Patrick Harris’s disgusting Amy Winehouse cake.
“Yea Neil Patrick Harris quite literally had a cake mimicking Amy Winehouse’s corpse for Halloween soon after she died. I’ve loathed that man ever since.”
The revelation has left a sour taste in many Neil Patrick Harris fans' mouths and there have been calls for an urgent apology.
Advert
The actor has listened and has owned up to it.
He told Entertainment Weekly: "A photo recently resurfaced from a Halloween-themed party my husband and I hosted 11 years ago.
Advert
"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."
The resurfaced image of the platter has also sparked a renewed discussion about how poorly Amy Winehouse was treated in her heyday.
Fans have rushed to social media to explain how this is yet another example of how the Rehab artist was failed by society.
One person wrote: "Society is way overdue for a discussion about the way Amy Winehouse was treated in the early 2000s and 2010s by the misogynistic celebrity media machine and the people who were a captive audience to it. Neil Patrick Harris' f**ked up corpse cake is just the tip of the iceberg."
Advert
Another said: "The way Amy Winehouse was treated before and after her death is so insanely disgusting. She deserved so much better. Also f**k you Neil Patrick Harris."
A third added: "I don’t care if it was 10 years ago, Neil Patrick Harris getting an 'Amy Winehouse’s Corpse' meat platter 3 months after her tragic death is so disturbing. That’s someone’s daughter, friend, loved one, and is undeniably her."
Topics: Celebrity
Stewart Perrie