Source: Entertainment Weekly

It may have been a tough pill to swallow, but Dr. House has apologized.

Hugh Laurie issued a public mea culpa after he slammed a writer’s “trenchant analysis” of House, his fan-favorite medical drama that aired on Fox for eight seasons until 2012.

On Monday, UnHerd published “What I learnt from my online fight with Hugh Laurie,” Janet Murray’s response to the backlash she received for her seemingly innocuous tweet criticizing House’s formulaic plot. Murray noted the early responses to her post “were overwhelmingly warm-hearted and affectionate towards the show” — until Laurie entered the chat.

Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase, Charlyne Yi as Dr. Chi Park, Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman, Hugh Laurie as Dr. Greg House, Peter Jacobson as Dr. Chris Taub, Odette Annable as Dr. Jessica Adams, Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson on season 8 of House
‘House’ starred Jesse Spencer (far left), Omar Epps (third), and Robert Sean Leonard (far right).

“The result has been some fairly horrific trolling,” she revealed on X. “It turns out House fans are even more abusive than trans activists (and that’s saying something). “I have enough experience of the media to take it on the chin, as the saying goes. But someone without my background might have found the experience far more distressing.”

Hugh Laurie slams writer for criticizing ‘House’ 14 years after its finale: ‘Wasn’t meant for you’

In response, Laurie apologized to Murray, “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. If it’s any comfort, I got it in the neck too. I’m a thin-skinned twat, apparently, even though it wasn’t my skin. I was sticking up for the writers who I adored.”

In his original response, Laurie cited composer Johann Sebastian Bach, artist Frida Kahlo, and sculptor Henry Moore, seemingly comparing their “variations on a theme” to House.

“[If] all you see is hospital, medical blah blah, then it wasn’t meant for you,” Laurie sniped to Murray. “Nonetheless, I look forward to your first novel!”

Twenty-four hours later, he had a change of heart.

“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,” Laurie tweeted. “I’ve listened to most of them and will keep doing so. Because we love what we love.”

Murray accepted his apology, although she underscored that describing the online backlash as “‘having a go’ is probably an understatement.”

All the same, she continued, “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… Anyway, no hard feelings. I’m hoping you’ll be back for another series of Tehran.”