'House' Star Apologizes for Viral Response to Viewer Criticism with Hilarious Excuse: 'I Was Very Slightly Drunk'

Hugh Laurie has officially issued an apology for his blunt (yet hilarious) comeback to one journalist's criticisms of House.

Returning to social media, the 66-year-old actor and comedian humbly apologized to British journalist Janet Murray for his fiery response to her negative analysis of the show. Even more humorously, Laurie attributed the tone of his response to being "very slightly drunk," as well as dealing with a separate issue that had "nothing to do" with Murray.

"I'm sorry if people have been having a go at you because of my tweet," Laurie shared on X. "Not at all the plan. I was very slightly drunk and already upset about something that had nothing to do with you. If it's any comfort, I got it in the neck too. I'm a thin-skinned tw*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," the comedian continued. "I've listened to most of them and will keep doing so. Because we love what we love."

Sharing her own response, Murray accepted Laurie's apology and complimented House and Laurie's performance in the show.

"‘Having a go' is probably an understatement but I appreciate the apology and recognise you may have been sticking up for colleagues," Murray wrote. "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."

The back-and-forth came roughly a day after Laurie's reaction to Murray's criticisms took off on social media.

Laurie first wrote on X, "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."

"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??" Laurie went on to say.

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 6:04 AM.