What is the backlash against Lea Michele and why do people think she’s racist?
LEA Michelle has recently come under fire with hateful accusations about her from her co-stars.
The 33-year-old “Glee” star is being accused of being “racist” by many celebrities and calling extras on set “cockroaches.” Here is more about the star and the allegations against her.
Who is Lea Michele and why is she receiving backlash?
Lea Michele, 33, hails from New York and is an American actress and singer.
She began her career as a Broadway star in productions like “Les Miserables”, “Ragtime” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Michele got major recognition when she starred in “Glee” as Rachel Berry and received an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations.
In addition, she played a popular mean girl in “Scream Queens”, and starred in “The Mayor” as Valentina Barella.
She has also been linked to late Glee co-star Cory Monteith and is now expecting her first child with husband Zandy Reich.
Michele is receiving major backlash after tweeting a tribute to George Floyd claiming that it was not an “isolated incident” and that he did not deserve to die the way he did.
What was she allegedly like on Glee?
According to co-stars and extras of the show, Michele displayed mean behavior and was “unpleasant” to work with throughout the filming of the show.
Her co-star, Samantha Ware recently took to Twitter to voice her frustrations against the actress claiming that she was “racist” and made the extras working on the set feel as though they were “nothing.”
Ware, who played “Jane Hayward” in Glee claimed that Michele made her life on set a “living hell.”
I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘s**t in my wig!’ amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Holly-wood,” she added.
Glee stars Alex Newell, Amber Riley and Dabier Snell came to Samantha’s defense.
Snell claimed: “Girl you wouldn’t let me sit at the table with the other cast members cause ‘I didn’t belong there’ f**k you Lea you don’t give a f**k.”
Imia Edwards, an extra on the show, said that Michele referred to her and others as “cockroaches” and asked them to not even “look at her” while cameras weren’t rolling.
Edwards also claims that Michele burped in her face as she walked by and two people saw what had happened and apologized for Michele’s alleged behavior.
After Edwards called Michele out on Twitter, many other cast members and staff started chiming in voicing their concerns about Michele’s attitude
Edwards mentioned that while she is not directly insinuating that Michele is in fact, racist, she should still be “called out.”
“It needs to be brought up. I don’t know if we’re ever really going to fully be free, with everything that’s going on in the world, it’s really frustrating,” Edwards said.
Through all these Twitter allegations, Michele issued an apology to Ware claiming that she “did not remember what Ware spoke of, and denied judging anybody by “the color of their skin.”
Amid all of these accusations, the food company HelloFresh immediately ended its partnership with Lea, saying: “HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind.”
“We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele,” they added.
What did Amber Riley say about her?
Riley, her other co-star responded to Ware’s tweet with a gif of her sipping tea and raising her hand in reference to Michele’s wig comment.
She also explained that she did not want to detract from bigger issues such as racial inequality, injustice and police brutality by discussing Lea’s alleged “bullying behavior.”
Riley said: “I don’t give a s***, [about this]. People are out here dying and being murdered by police…I wish her well, I hope that she has an amazing pregnancy, I hope that she has grown.”
She said that Michele reached out to her to apologize after not talking for two years and that is as far as Riley is willing to go.
“She reached out to me, I responded to her and that’s where it ends for me. I ain’t talk to that girl in two years. I have no hatred or ill will on that end.”
What did her Glee co-star Matthew Morrison say?
Morrison, who briefly dated Michele weighed in on the comments during FUBAR Radio’s All Access interview on Friday but initially seemed reluctant to discuss the bullying allegations.
“I honestly think it’s a distraction of the bigger issues that are going on right now. It’s kind of like, ‘Ah’,” he said.
“You want to be a good, pleasant person to be around… That’s about all I’m going to say on that,” Morrison added.
Who else has accused the actress of bad behavior?
Many other public figures have voiced their concerns over Michele’s attitude and have slammed her insensitive comments.
Plastic Martyr, a transgender model recounted an alleged incident at a public bathroom during the 2010 Emmy’s.
She claimed: “I was in the bathroom, I don’t know her at all, I just recognized her, and I’m washing my hands and I went to reach for the soap or the paper towels.
“She was standing there with her friends, talking s***, being a mean girl, making fun of people’s outfits.
“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.'”
The model said she immediately felt like a “circus freak.”
“It was a bathroom packed full of women, so it made everyone else feel uncomfortable.
People were staring at me and talking and pointing. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m out of here.’
“I was dressed, I felt glamorous, and to hear that from somebody who I thought was so beautiful,” Martyr concluded.
In addition, a source exclusively told The Sun of her April 2019 stint as a guest performer on American Idol: “She was a nightmare on Idol. One contestant asked for a picture and she didn’t even say no. She just walked away.”
The Glee alum appeared on American Idol to perform “Part of Your World” to promote The Little Mermaid concert.
Monica Moskatow, a Michele look-a-like who was hired for a 2009 Glee party claimed that when Michele saw her, she said: “Oh my God! Could they have picked someone uglier!”
Disney star Jordan Pruitt joined the ongoing conversation on social media to say: “Everyone in Hollywood KNOWS that Lea Michele is a horrible human being.”
She also claims to have said she has “much more tea where that came from” but won’t be spilling any.
Ultimately, Michele claims to be “shocked” by the allegations and received lengthy and further backlash, with some people criticizing her apology for being insincere.
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Ware responded, “Open your purse??????????????”, and shared a link to a fundraising account for James Spurlock, a black man who was killed while attending a protest for George Floyd in Nebraska.
Michele, who is pregnant with her first child, claimed that she is learning and listening to the criticisms against her.
“I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me,” she said.