Glee star Samantha Ware has aired out more of Lea Michele’s bad behavior in a new Variety interview.
Ware informed fans of Michele’s diva behavior in a Twitter post rebutting Michele’s May 29 tweet expressing solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the George Floyd protests.
“LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF [YOU] HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD “SHIT IN MY WIG!” AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD…,” she tweeted June 1.
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
“I knew from day one when I attempted to introduce myself. There was nothing gradual about it,” she said. “As soon as she decided that she didn’t like me, it was very evident.”
“It was after I did my first performance, that’s when it started–the silent treatment, the stare-downs, the looks, the comments under her breath, the weird passive-aggressiveness. It all built up.”
Ware also said that Michele threatened her job and humiliated her during a large group scene. According to Ware, Michele gave her a “come here” gesture, “like how a mother does to their child,” she said, and after she refused, she threatened to have Ryan Murphy fire her. By that time, though, in the series’ sixth season, Murphy was no longer associated with the show.
When Ware tried to have a conversation with Michele after the incident to defend herself, Ware said Michele told her to shut her mouth.
“She said I don’t deserve to have that job. She talked about how she has reign,” she said.
Ware also said in the interview that she didn’t know about her option to file a complaint, or even considered it.
“Lea’s actions were nothing new, so I guess since it was such a common thing, my case didn’t seem like that big of a deal,” she said. “I remember the first day I actually spoke up and unfortunately no one did anything. They just shrugged it off, like ‘That’s her.’ No one was stopping these things, which is an issue because the environment was helping perpetuate this abuse.”
Ware’s allegation of Michele saying she would “s—t in my wig” comes from a moment during a lunch break on set, in which the cast was watching a scene from the show.
“She had an issue because I had laughed [when watching a scene] and that’s when the ‘I’m going to s—t in your wig’ comment happened,” she said. “Some chuckled and some gasped. It was mortifying. The whole point was for her to embarrass me. People heard her, but no one was going to stand up to her.” Ware felt the statement was racially-charged, even if Michele didn’t intend for that to be the case. “Black women historically are known for their wigs,” said Ware.
Ware said that Michele has tried to get in contact with her personally, but Ware refused to give out her information, offering Michele to get in contact with her through her representation instead. Ware received a letter of apology from Michele via Ware’s representatives June 3, according to Variety. Michele issued a public apology to Ware on Instagram. But Ware doesn’t believe the apology is genuine.
““oes Lea even know what a microaggression is? I don’t know,” she said. “All that her apology did was affirm that she hasn’t learned anything. Am I calling Lea a racist? No. Does Lea have racist tendencies? I think Lea suffers from a symptom of living in this world in an industry that is tailored to white people.”
Ware is looking to raise more awareness about how Black people are treated within the workplace with her hashtag #unMUTEny.
READ MORE:
Amber Riley Opens Up About Lea Michele, Black Actresses Who Have Been ‘Terrorized’ On Set
Photo: Getty
