Lea Michele Apologizes After ‘Glee’ Co-Star Samantha Ware Accused Her Of “Microaggressions”
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UPDATED at 6.30AM with Lea Michele statement: Lea Michele has apologized after her former Glee co-star Samantha Ware made accusations about her on-set behavior while filming the Fox show.
On Twitter Tuesday, Ware bristled at Michele tweeting her support for the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd last month. “George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter,” Michele wrote.
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Ware penned her reply in all capital letters, accusing Michele of making her life a “living hell” on Glee. Her post, which has been liked by nearly 500,000 users, added that Michele had subjected her to “traumatic microaggressions” including threatening to “shit in my wig.”
LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD “SHIT IN MY WIG!” AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD… https://t.co/RkcaMBmtDA
— SAMEYAAAAAA (@Sammie_Ware) June 2, 2020
Michele issued a lengthy statement on Instagram apologizing for her behavior and “any pain which I have caused” after reflecting on how her actions were perceived by her co-stars.
“While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that’s not really the point. What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people,” she said.
“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 apologize for my behavior 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 my own shortcomings.”
Following Ware’s tweet, food delivery business HelloFresh terminated its sponsorship deal with Michele, who has gone on to appear in shows including Scream Queens.
HelloFresh tweeted: “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.”
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.
— HelloFresh US (@HelloFresh) June 2, 2020
The delivery business has worked with Michele since January, and the actress has promoted the company in a number of Instagram posts, the most recent of which was published on May 20.
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