Glee stars accuse Lea Michele of more ‘traumatic’ on-set behaviour: ‘It brings back bad memories’
Michele allegedly had an extra fired before realising it was Barbra Streisand's niece
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Your support makes all the difference.More Glee stars are coming forward with their own claims of Lea Michele’s “bad” on-set behaviour, with an extra calling the actor a “tyrant”.
Earlier this week, Samantha Marie Ware claimed that Michele made her life a “living hell” due to “traumatic microaggressions” while filming the show, which the actor has now addressed in an Instagram post.
In response to Michele’s tweet about the death of George Floyd and in praise of the anti-racist protests taking place around the world, Ware wrote: “Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I’ll never forget.
"I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘s*** in my wig!’ amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.”
Now, other actors who appeared on the show, including Amber Riley, Alex Newell and Dabier Snell, are reacting by chiming in with their own allegations.
Riley, who played Mercedes, subtly suggested she agreed with Ware’s claims by posting a photo of her raising her hand.
Newell, who played Wade “Unique” Adams in four seasons of the show, seemingly referenced Ware by writing on Twitter: “When my friend goes through something traumatic, I also go through it. That’s what friendship is and if you can’t understand that then you’re part of the problem. I mean that for both sides of this coin!”
She added in reply to a fan: “We ain’t got not a damn thing to lie about six years later!”
Snell, who appeared in one episode of the Fox show, claims that Michele “didn’t let [him] sit at the table with the other cast members” because she allegedly told him he “didn’t belong there”.
He said that seeing Ware’s initial post “brought back bad memories” of Michele’s alleged behaviour on set.
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Meanwhile, Marley Rose actor Melissa Benoist started liking Twitter posts about the claims against Michele.
Transgender NYC nightlife star Linux The Robot revealed she was an extra on the show in 2014 and claimed that Michele “randomly fired” another extra before realising it was Barbra Streisand's niece.
Linux The Robot alleges that Michele then invited her back to arrange a meeting with her auntie.
They added that “the entire crew was so happy” when they got to film a scene in which Michele had to have eggs thrown at her by her fellow cast members.
Following the allegations, Michele was dropped by meal-kit business HelloFresh’s ad campaign. Ware has since criticised Michele's apology after the actor suggested it was her "privileged position" that may have led her co-stars to perceive her behaviour as "inappropriate".
The Independent has contacted Michele for comment.
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