Samantha Ware has responded to former co-star Lea Michele’s non-apology apology following widespread accusations the Glee star was a bully.
“LMAO remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I’ll never forget. I believe you told everyone if [you] had the opportunity you would ‘shit in my wig!’ Amongst other traumatic microagressions that made me question a career in Hollywood…”
Lea issued an apology, where she used the word “perceived” many times over.
“The responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them.”
Well, you can only imagine how the went over with Samatha Ware. This was her response:
“Perceived? Purcieved? Purse? Open your purse??????????????”
She included a link to a GoFundMe page for James Scurlock, who was shot and killed by a white bar owner named Jacob Gardner during a recent protest in Omaha, Nebraska.
By the ever-growing list of people who have worked with or encountered Lea Michele who are calling her out. It does truly seem that she has been a nightmare to work with.
We will update this list as it grows:
Amber Riley
Riley spoke with Essence‘s Danielle Young on Instagram about the controversy, revealing that other she’s had other Black actors and actresses tell her similar on-set stories.
“I’m not going to say that Lea Michele is racist. That’s not what I’m saying. That was the assumption because of what’s going on right now in the world and it happened toward a Black person,” Riley said.
“I’m not going to say that she’s racist. She’s also pregnant and I think that everyone needs to chill. Y’all dragged her for a couple of days. But at the same time, in my inbox there are a lot of Black actors and actresses telling me their stories and letting me know they have dealt with the same things on set, being terrorized by the white girls that are the leads of the show,” Riley said.
That all said, Riley emphasized the fact that she has bigger concerns than Lea Michele right now. “I don’t give a shit, [about this]. People are out here dying, being murdered by police.…I wish her well, I hope she has an amazing pregnancy, I hope that she has grown…”
Alex Newell
Yvette Nicole Brown
Brown, who worked with Michele on the 2017 show The Mayor, wrote this in response to Ware’s tweet:
“I felt every one of those capital letters…every person on a set matters. Every person on a set deserves respect. And it is the responsibility of every series regular to make every person who visits their home feel welcome. This dismissive attitude is what’s wrong in Hollywood and the world.”
Willam
Dabier Snell
Aja Depaolo
Gerard Canonico
Gerard was one of her Spring Awakenings co-stars and had this to say in a comment on her Instagram apology:
Abigail Breslin
Breslin, who was one of Lea’s Scream Queens co-stars, was caught “liking” a handful of tweets about the Glee backlash. “not everyone agreeing that something felt off about Lea Michele… where have y’all been i’ve BEEN saying this FOR YEARS??? i thought i was alone,” one Twitter user wrote. Another tweet in Breslin’s list of “liked” posts simply showed a photo of the series’ slogan, “And that’s what you missed on Glee.”
Melissa Benoist
While Melissa hasn’t spoken out with any statements of her own, she has liked a number of tweets that have been calling out Lea over the last few days.
Naya Rivera
It is known that Naya and Michele had a long-standing feud while co-starring on Glee. Well, Naya has finally unfollowed Lea on Instagram.
Heather Morris
Linux the Robot
Marti Noxon
Former Glee producer Marti Noxon has waded into the Lea Michele bullying controversy — and revealed there were many Glee stars who were just as bad on set.
In a now-deleted tweet, Noxon wrote, “Re: @LeaMichele. Hey, I’m all for calling out bad behavior and even for some schadenfreude when that behavior is punished. That said, on GLEE there were LOTS of bad actors. Who were NOT women. People in the industry know who I’m talking about. Why aren’t we calling them out?”
She added, “It seems to me that women are the first to go under the bus. But a lot of males get away with being the bullies-in-chief. How come we let them get away with it? Maybe it’s because as long as they earn someone money, they get a pass.”
Noxon was asked by a follower to name names, but replied, “I’m going to leave that to my male allies. It’s their turn.”
Marti has posted a clarification on her original statement.
Jeanté Godlock
Avivia Dresher
And then for some reason, former Real Housewives of New York City star Avivia Dresher felt she had to share her own experience by commenting on Lea’s Instagram post.
“You were once very unkind to me so I am not surprised by your behavior. You shouldn’t judge others before looking in the mirror.”
Elizabeth Aldrich
Broadway actress, Elizabeth Aldrich tweeted about her experience with Michelle from 1998.
Plastic Martyr
Lea has been accused of mocking trans model Plastic Martyr for using the women’s bathroom at the 2010 Emmy Awards.
Plastic claimed Lea made her feel “like a circus freak” by questioning her decision to use the women’s bathroom, when she was still in the early stages of her transition.
Plastic said: “I was just trying to get out of there. I said, ‘Excuse me,’ and she’s standing there blocking my reach.”
“She goes, ‘Excuse me?’ and she looks at her friends, looks at me again, and says, ‘Excuse you, you’re in the woman’s bathroom’.”
Adding that Lea brushed off the incident and carried on laughing with her friends, Plastic it knocked her confidence hugely, especially as she was still in the midst of her transition.
She added: “I was dressed, I felt glamorous, and to hear that from somebody who I thought was so beautiful … I went from feeling like I was on cloud nine to feeling like a circus freak.”
Monica Moskatow
Actress Monica Moskatow recalled a time that Cory Monteith showered her with compliments after Lea Michele allegedly called her ugly.
“September 2009 I was hired to work at the premiere party for Glee at a high school. They hired lookalikes of the shows characters to perform at the party. I was the Rachel Berry lookalike,” Moskatow wrote in an Instagram comment on Michele’s page.
“I didn’t know my character was the lead let alone who played her,” she continued. “When the actors arrived at the event and found out there were lookalikes of them Lea came searching for me. When she saw me she said, ‘oh my god! Could they have picked someone uglier!'”
Moskatow wrote that Monteith “saw the look on my face and said, ‘don’t listen to her she’s just jealous, you’re beautiful.'” She added, “I never forgot that.”
The Rumors
There have long been rumors of how difficult and unpleasant Lea was to work with. A bad reputation follows you in Hollywood and clearly, hers has.
Looking at Lea’s IMDb page, I was actually pretty astonished at how little she has worked since Glee, other than being cast in Ryan Murphy‘s Scream Queens.
- Same Time, Next Christmas (TV Movie) 2019
- The Little Mermaid: An Immersive Live-to-Film Concert Experience (Video) 2019
- The Mayor (TV Series) 2017 – 2018
- Dimension 404 (TV Series) 2017
- Scream Queens (TV Series) 2015 – 2016
- Sons of Anarchy (TV Series) 2014
- Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return 2013
- New Year’s Eve (Movie) 2011
- The Cleveland Show (TV Series) 2011
- Glee (TV Series) 2009-2015
- Spring Awakening (Broadway musical) 2006
- Third Watch (TV Series) 2000
She signed on to star in the 2017 film The Layover with Kate Upton, but she reportedly “left the project.” But that’s it. She was aiming to make it big on Broadway, but that did not pan out.
Also, it is really interesting that Ryan Murphy, the creator of Glee and long time champion of Lea, has remained silent. Also, there has been no word from Michele’s co-stars Darren Criss, Chris Colfer, and Becca Tobin, whom Lea is supposedly the closest with.
Lea’s Supporters
Lea does have two former Glee co-stars who now have spoken up for her, in terms of how they were treated.
Iqbal Theba
Iqbal Theba, who played the role of Principal Figgins.
Dean Geyer
Dean portrayed Brody Weston, the boyfriend of Lea‘s character, from 2012-2013.
Dean told The Daily Mail, “Lea is still one of my favorite co-stars that I have had the pleasure of working with. She is extremely hard working and super fun to be around. Her work ethic is so strong it forces you to always be on top of your game, and that’s something I looked forward to every day on set. I definitely learned a lot.”
He added, “When jumping onto a hugely successful and established show like Glee, I went into it expecting to be known as the ‘new guy’ for at least a month, but that wasn’t the case at all. I almost immediately felt welcomed, and to be totally honest, out of everyone, Lea was the most friendly to me.”
He continued, “I can only speak for myself and my own experience, but from what I saw during my time on set, there was nothing but professionalism and a genuine sense of community amongst the cast and crew.”
“No one showed any signs of discomfort while Lea was on set. If I’m basing my opinion off my season, there definitely shouldn’t be a reason for a backlash,” Dean said.
I think right now a number of people would love to give Lea Michele a slushie to the face.
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