Matthew Morrison's 'Grinch' Performance Criticized by Some for Being Too 'Sexual'

The Grinch is not supposed to be warm and cuddly. After all, he was born with a heart two sizes too small.

But “The Grinch Musical,” starring Matthew Morrison that aired on NBC last night, took things to a whole new level, with some viewers saying Morrison’s portrayal actually left them feeling physically uncomfortable.

“I’m literally gonna need to see my therapist after watching Matthew Morrison put so much sexual energy into the Grinch,” one tweet said.

“Bizarrely sexual interpretation of the Grinch,” said another.

Morrison said he used Joaquin Phoenix’s “Joker” as inspiration.

Jim Carrey famously brought “The Grinch” to life on the big screen 20 years ago. It became the second biggest Christmas movie of all time. Now NBC's “The Grinch Musical” will be remembered for something else.

"The reaction has been critically panned and panned across social media," Variety senior correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister told Inside Edition. "This is one of those instances where it seems that everybody agreed — Matthew Morrison's portrayal of the Grinch, it just ultimately missed the mark. But that does not take away from how talented he his. And A for effort, because he was giving it his all." 

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