EXCLUSIVE: Denzel Washington Theater Crisis – How Actor's Agonizing Tongue-Biting Accident Is 'STILL Robbing Him of Ability to Deliver Shakespeare Lines' As Broadway Premiere of 'Othello' Looms
Denzel Washington's tongue injury is saidto be gnawing at his ability to perform Shakespeare on stage.
March 6 2025, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
Denzel Washington braved deadly swords in Gladiator II, but the most dangerous weapon turned out to be his own choppers – with sources telling RadarOnline.com the star recently bit his tongue so badly he's having a hard time speaking his lines as Othello.
The 70-year-old is playing Shakespeare's jealousy-riddled Moor on Broadway, premiering at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre February 24, but he's tongue-tied, hobbled by a swollen licker that makes speaking difficult and forces him to slow down.
Denzel Washington's swollen tongue is said to be hampering his delivery as Othello alongside other theater and movie stars on Broadway.
"I have a line: 'Whither will you that I go to answer this your charge?' It's hard because my tongue is swollen," Washington noted. "It has affected everything!"
Speaking Shakespeare's Elizabethan English is tough for anyone, but a swollen tongue is definitely a handicap.
Washington hasn't revealed just when the tongue twister happened, but he says he nearly chomped off a chunk.
Theater bosses have given Washington, an Oscar winner, top billing backstage as well as the leading role in 'Othello.'
His ability to speak clearly has become even more important to him recently since he became a minister in a Harlem church.
He said his new closeness with the Lord and becoming a preacher actually fulfills the prediction a woman gave him just after he'd flunked out of college in 1975.
One critic wrote: 'Washington seems to be miles away from the Barrymore Theatre.'
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"It was prophesied in my youth that I would travel the world and preach or speak to millions of people," he recalled. "She didn't say anything about me being an actor, but I have traveled the world, and I am speaking more and more.
"I used to think that I was doing that through my work. Now I'm trying to be a bit more specific, speaking about my faith."
