Clean-cut heroine of Glee Lea Michele is not so popular off-screen as co-stars accuse her of bullying – The Sun
THE girl-next-door persona always seemed a perfect match for that of her Glee alter ego Rachel Berry.
But actress Lea Michele’s carefully cultivated clean-cut image has now well and truly cracked.
Earlier this week, the 33-year-old star of the hit musical TV drama was fired as the face of meal kit delivery firm HelloFresh — after a former co-star accused her of bullying and making her life “a living hell” on set.
Samantha Ware, 28, who joined the cast in 2015’s sixth and final series, claimed Lea once even threatened to “s**t in my wig”.
It is not the first time the show — dubbed High School Musical for adults — has been rocked by problems and rumours of unrest.
And despite Lea, who is expecting her first baby with businessman husband Zandy Reich, 37, issuing a grovelling apology on Wednesday, more of its stars have piled in with their own stories of her alleged bad behaviour.
Broadway actor Gerard Canonico, 30, who worked alongside Lea in musical Spring Awakening, wrote on Instagram: “You were nothing but a nightmare to me and fellow understudy cast members.
“You made us feel like we didn’t belong there. I tried for years to be nice to you to no avail.”
Glee star Heather Morris, 33, who played cheerleader Brittany Pierce, claimed the actress was “unpleasant” to work with.
She added: “For Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she should be called out.”
‘Girl, you wouldn't let me sit at the table’
The furore erupted last Friday after Lea tweeted in tribute to American George Floyd, whose death in police custody has sparked riots across America and protests across the world.
She wrote: “George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end.”
On Monday, Samantha, who played Jane Hayward in Glee, hit back: “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**t in my wig!’ amongst other traumatic micro-aggressions that made me question a career in Holly-wood.”
Fellow Glee stars Amber Riley, Alex Newell and Dabier Snell all appeared to support Samantha’s tweet.
Amber, 34, who played Mercedes Jones for all six seasons, shared two gifs of herself — one raising her hand, the other sipping tea.
Dabier, 25, who only appeared in one episode, claimed he was not allowed to sit with leading lady Lea on set.
He wrote: “Girl, you wouldn’t let me sit at the table with the other cast members ’cause I didn’t belong there. F*** you Lea.”
Alex, 27, who played Unique Adams, posted the “Get her, Jade” meme from TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
And after a fan accused them of making false allegations, he responded: “We ain’t got not a damn thing to lie about 6 years later!”
In 2011, True Grit actress Hailee Steinfeld, 23, revealed how Lea made her cry by snubbing her request for an autograph when she was 14.
Following Samantha’s bullying allegations, 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.”
Lea apologised to Samantha by tweeting: “While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or colour of their skin, that’s not really the point.
“What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people. Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times . . .
"Or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologise for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused.
“We can all grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.”
Her lengthy and carefully worded statement has provoked a further backlash, with some people criticising her apology for being insincere. Samantha responded, “Perceived? Purcieved? Purse?
"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.
No doubt Lea will now be keeping a low profile, a world away from the superstardom she found in 2009 after being chosen for Glee.
‘They’re always icy to each other’
The hit comedy-drama series followed the lives of a group of teenagers in an American high school’s singing club.
And the part of Rachel was written especially for Lea, who was already a Broadway star. Her character’s ambitious and driven nature was, in part, based on her younger self.
Indeed, after her first Broadway performance, aged eight, as the young Cosette in Les Miserables, only child Lea told her parents: “Don’t ever let me stop. I want to do this for the rest of my life.”
Glee quickly became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. By its second series, it was pulling in up to 2.6million viewers on E4.
Sky later outbid the channel for the third series, reportedly offering to pay £12millon — around £500,000 for each episode.
During her time on the show, Lea won a Screen Actors Guild Award and three People’s Choice Awards.
She was also nominated for two Golden Globes for Best Actress and an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Lea went on to become one half of a Hollywood golden couple with co-star Cory Monteith, who played her on-off boyfriend Finn Hudson in the series.
The pair dated until his death aged 31 in 2013, when he was found in a hotel room after apparently taking an overdose.
As Lea’s star began to rise, reports of bitchiness and bad behaviour also started to surface.
Once during filming it was claimed she “snapped her fingers” and said, “Let’s go. I have plans”. Rumours also swirled that Lea had a major bust-up with co-star Naya Rivera, who played tough cheerleader Santana Lopez.
'A lot of infighting'
In 2014, a source said: “They’re always icy to each other.”
It was rumoured Naya, 33, was being kicked off the show following an alleged fight with Lea, although both denied reports of a feud.
There were also claims of an on-set feud with guest star Kate Hudson, 41. It is alleged the actress described her experience on Glee as a “nightmare” — although she has denied rumours of a bust-up.
Reflecting on his time working on Glee, screenwriter Ryan Murphy described it as “the best time in my life and the worst time in my life”. He added: “There was a lot of infighting.”
Following a 2013 interview with the actress, one glossy magazine journalist described Lea as “exacting” and said that “she likes things a certain way”.
The journalist added: “She has very high standards and defines herself by her ability to meet them. You would not want to be on her bad side.”
In response to this observation, Lea’s friend and Glee co-star Jonathan Groff, 35, replied: “Totally. You’re in or you’re out with Lea. Her friendship is extreme in a good way.”
Lea has previously said she has got used to people labelling her a diva, calling it “frustrating”. During a 2012 interview, she said: “I can assure you that [the diva rumours] aren’t real.
“It’s super-frustrating sometimes, and I used to fight back, but now I feel like, ‘You can think what you want about me — that’s OK’.”
She added: “I have the most amazing fans, friends and family members who have stood by me, and I know that my cast and crew really enjoy working with me. That’s all that matters.”
But the days of brushing off those rumours are now long gone. With just one tweet, her good girl image has been shattered and her world has come crashing down around her.
Triumph turns to tragedy
It was the all-singing and dancing feelgood TV series, but the drama behind the cameras took on a much darker turn.
- Lea once dated Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, after meeting him on set. Cory was found dead in a hotel room in 2013 aged 31 after taking an apparent overdose. He had spent several stints in rehab and had reportedly struggled with substance abuse since his early teens.
- Naya Rivera – Glee’s Santana Lopez – was charged with domestic battery against her husband in 2017. The charge was later dismissed after her husband asked prosecutors not to proceed. And in her explosive memoir, she likened the Glee set to a “polygamist cult” because of all the bed-hopping.
- Mark Salling, who played Noah “Puck” Puckerman, took his own life after he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor.
- In 2014, Glee’s production assistant Nancy Motes was found dead in a hotel room after taking her own life in a drug overdose.
- In 2011 Dianna Agron, who played cheerleader Quinn Fabray, reportedly went into hiding after her ex-boyfriend Alex Pettyfer left her “terrified” following a heated phone call.
- Jesse Luken, who played Bobby Surette, was arrested and charged with drink driving in 2018 after crashing his car. He had been pulled from the wreckage “reeking of booze”.
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