Glee star Heather Morris has admitted Lea Michele was “very unpleasant” to work with, after Samantha Ware accused the actress of bullying on set.
The 33-year-old, who played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce in Glee, said Lea deserved to be called out in a statement posted on Twitter.
She wrote: “Let me be very clear, Hate is a disease in America that we are trying to cure, so I would never wish for that hate to be spread to anyone else.”
“With that said, was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so; for Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she SHOULD be called out.”
— heather (@HeatherMorrisTV) June 3, 2020
The news comes after Lea finally responded to claims she made Samantha Ware’s life a “living hell” on the set of Glee.
Earlier this week, Samantha claimed Lea bullied her on set, after the actress showed her support for the Black Lives Matter movement – following the tragic death of George Floyd.
Taking to Twitter, Lea tweeted: “George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end.”
Samantha, who played Jane Hayward in Glee, then re-posted Lea’s tweet and wrote: “LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET.” [sic]
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 BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD ‘S**T IN MY WIG!’ AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD…,” she added.
Alex Newell, Amber Riley and Dabier Snell, who also starred in Glee, reacted to the tweet in support of Samantha.
Shortly after Samantha’s tweet went viral, a number of celebrities unfollowed Lea on Instagram – including Ariana Grande and Keke Palmer, who have both worked with her in the past.
Responding to Samantha’s accusations in a statement posted on Instagram, Lea wrote: “One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people’s perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices that they face.”
“When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbours and communities of color during this really difficult time, but the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behaviour towards fellow cast members was perceived by them.”
“While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that’s not really the point, what matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people,” she continued.
“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 apologize for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused.”
“We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.”
“I am a couple of months away from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me.”
She concluded her statement by writing, “I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience.”
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Lea, who is expecting her first child with husband Zandy Reich, released a statement after HelloFresh publicly cut ties with the actress – after Samantha accused her of bullying.
The company announced their decision to no longer work with her by tweeting: “HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind. We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele.”
“We take this very seriously, and have ended our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately.”
HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind. We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele. We take this very seriously, and have ended our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately.
— HelloFresh US (@HelloFresh) June 2, 2020
On this week’s episode of #GossChats, Ali Ryan chats to Love Island winner and rugby star Greg O’Shea about his experience on the reality show, what REALLY happened after his split from Amber Gill, and some of the strange things women have sent him in his DMs…
#GossChats is sponsored by top Irish aesthetic clinic Haus of JeJuve.
