What’s up guys, it’s Emile Ennis Jr. with Clevver News, and the Lea Michele drama continues
as we get more details about what went down.
If you’ve been wondering what exactly transpired on the set of Glee regarding Lea Michele’s
treatment toward her castmates, you’re in luck because Samantha Ware just went into
full fledged detail.
Pop the popcorn and put on the tea!
If you’ve been keeping up with the news over the past week, you’ve probably heard
about how Hollywood has seemingly banded together to dismantle Lea Michele’s reputation and
call out her horrible behavior toward her castmates.
It seems every day, more and more celebrities have come forward with their own experiences
about the way Lea treated them at one point, but after her Glee co-star Samantha Ware tweeted
about the situation, it left fans wondering what actually went down on the set.
Two weeks ago when Lea tweeted in support of Black Lives Matter after George Floyd’s
death, Samantha exposed her in a fiery response that started it all, alleging Lea had told
her she would “s*** in her wig” among many other “traumatic microaggressions.”
Samantha’s tweet sparked an uproar among Hollywood, as many other celebrities, as well
as Glee regulars and extras, also came forward.
Lea has since come forward with an apology, which was also met with criticism, as she
claims she “doesn’t remember ever making those specific statements,” and how her
behavior was “perceived” by her castmates.
It has also been reported that Lea is now seeking behavioral help and is working on
patching things up with her former co-stars.
BUT we’d all be lying if we tried to say we weren’t the least bit curious to know
what all went down between Lea, Samantha and any other cast members who suffered a traumatizing
experience.
Lucky for us, Samantha spilled some serious tea on the entire situation… and I’m talking,
like Boston Tea Party amounts of tea dumpage.
In an interview with Variety earlier this week, Samantha detailed her experience working
with Lea, saying that she knew from day one, when she stepped onto the Glee set in 2015,
that she was strongly disliked by her.
She said QUOTE, “There was nothing gradual about it.
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.”
She also shared that Lea’s actions were “nothing new” to fellow castmates who
made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal at all.
Samantha then recalled the first day she attempted to speak up about Lea’s behavior, saying,
“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.”
What possibly triggered Lea was what Samantha thought to be a time when she offended her
when goofing off during a scene when the camera wasn’t directly on her, to which Lea took
as Samantha being disrespectful toward her.
She said things got so heated that Lea threatened to call Ryan Murphy over to have her fired
from the show, adding, “When I tried to speak up for myself, she told me to shut my
mouth.
She said I don’t deserve to have that job.
She talked about how she has reign.
And here’s the thing: I completely understood that, and I was ready to be like, ‘This
is your show.
I’m not here to be disrespectful.’
But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power.”
The same went for the ‘wig’ comment, when Lea got mad at Samantha for laughing during
a screening of an episode.
She recalled that, “some chuckled and some gasped,” adding, “The whole point was
for her to embarrass me.
People heard her, but no one was going to stand up to her…
Black women historically are known for their wigs.”
It’s unfortunate that this entire situation has taken years to make its way to the public,
as Samantha agreed that it shouldn’t have had to take her tweet to bring forth these
issues.
She said, “When you tweet, “Black lives matter,” that would mean you have an understanding
of what that hashtag means, but it’s clear that it doesn’t.
Does Lea even know what a microaggression is?
I don’t know.
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.”
While we all continue to educate ourselves on the racial injustices happening in the
world every day, we’ve linked some resources down in the description below for ways that
YOU can get involved with the Black Lives Matter movement.
For more on Lea Michele, click right over here to see how she’s getting help amid
the backlash within the Hollywood circle.
And be sure to let me know all your thoughts on the shocking new insight Samantha gave
about Lea down here in the comments.
I’m your host Emile Ennis Jr., see you next time.