Glee’s Lea Michele apologies for causing co-stars ‘pain’ after Samantha Ware calls out shocking on-set behaviour
Former Glee star Lea Michele (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Former Glee star Lea Michele has broken her silence to deny bullying her Black former cast-mates.
Samantha Ware, who played New Directions newcomer Jane in the sixth and final season of the show, went public with her allegations after Michele made a post in support of Black Lives Matter.
Ware alleged that Michele made her time on Glee a “living hell” and “told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘s**t in my wig’.”
Amber Riley and Alex Newell, who played the show’s most prominent Black characters, Mercedes Jones and Unique Adams, both posted oblique messages that appeared to support Ware in the exchange – and tellingly, no former members of the Glee cast have spoken up to defend the actress.
Lea Michele says she ‘doesn’t remember’ threatening to ‘s**t in wig’ of co-star.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Michele said that the messages “have made me focus… on how my own behaviour towards fellow cast members was perceived by them”.
She wrote: “While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or colour of their skin, that’s not really the point, what matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people.
“Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologise for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused.
“We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.”
Glee actress and singer Lea Michele has denied bullying Black cast-mates (Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)
She added: “I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me.
“I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience.”
The apology comes after Michele was dropped as the face of cookery brand HelloFresh.
A statement said: “HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind. We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele.
“We take this very seriously, and have ended our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately.”
Drag Race‘s Willam has also accused the Glee star of abusive treatment.
Others have also added their voices to the condemnation of Lea Michele’s on-set behaviour.
Drag Race star Willam Belli has claimed they walked out of an appearance on Glee after the actress treated him as a “subhuman”.
The reality TV star tweeted: “Lea treated me so subhuman I left the set of Glee.”
Yvette Nicole Brown, who worked with Michele on the flop 2017 sitcom The Mayor, cryptically added that she “felt every one of those capital letters” in Ware’s tweet.
