Glee star Lea Michele has faced multiple accusations of on-set bullying following claims she made a black female co-star’s life ‘a living hell’.
After the 33-year-old actress shared a Twitter post expressing solidarity with George Floyd protesters on Friday, Samantha Ware publicly accused her of threatening to defecate in her wig and subjecting her to ‘other traumatic microaggressions’.
Lea has since apologised for her past behaviour, but Sydney radio hosts Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and Kyle Sandilands – who had a bad experience with the Broadway star several years ago – said on Thursday it wasn’t good enough.
Jackie said Lea’s apology had ‘missed the mark’ because she attempted to shift the blame onto her co-stars for ‘perceiving’ her words and actions the wrong way.
‘It missed the mark” Jackie ‘O’ Henderson shuts down Lea Michele’s apology to her Glee co-star Samantha Ware… after the disgraced actress made the radio host’s life living ‘hell’
The saga began when Lea tweeted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Samantha called her out, asking: ‘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 microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.’
Several A-list stars, including Ariana Grande and Keke Palmer, unfollowed Lea and she was immediately dropped as a Hello Fresh spokesperson, which led Lea to issue an apology.
Angry: Glee star Lea Michele has come under fire after her co-star Samantha Ware (pictured) exposed her racist remarks after sharing a solidarity post about George Floyd death. She’s seen in 2019 above
After Lea tweeted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Samantha called the singer out, asking: ‘Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?’
She said: ‘When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time.
‘But the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus on how my own behavior 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,’ a snippet of Lea’s lengthy apology read.
Shock: Her statement came after she was fired by HelloFresh due to the scandal
Hitting out: The actress, 33, admitted her ‘privileged position and immaturity’ had contributed to causing pain to her former co-star, 28, in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday
Based on the public’s response, Jackie suggested it was ‘actually worse’ that Lea couldn’t remember her ‘s**ting in the wig’ threat because that’s a ‘really nasty thing to say’.
She also pointed out Lea had used the word ‘perceived’ several times in her apology.
‘Lea has obviously written an apology on her Instagram but it missed the mark, I think. Most of the comments are like, “Are you kidding? This is the worst apology ever,”‘ Jackie said.
Wrong answer: Based on the public’s response, Jackie suggested it ‘actually worse’ Lea couldn’t remember saying ‘about s**ting in the wig’ because that’s a ‘really nasty thing to say’
She added: That’s the part where everyone said, “What do you mean perceived by them? You weren’t in the wrong and they were just perceiving you wrong?” That’s where a lot of people have taken issue.’
Kyle – who knows a thing or two about public apologies – agreed with the public outrage, saying that ‘you misunderstood me’ doesn’t demonstrate real contrition.
Jackie replied: ‘When you apologise and say, “I’m sorry you took it that way,” that’s not saying sorry. That’s saying you’re the one that has the issue, not me.’
‘This is the worst apology ever’: Jackie also pointed out Lea used the word ‘perceived’ multiple time throughout her apology, which was posted to Instagram
Jackie has her own beef with Lea after she asked the singer a question during an interview that angered her fiercely loyal fanbase at the time.
The 45-year-old had asked Lea about a rumour the stars of Glee were contracted to do six seasons without a pay rise, even if the show went on to become a success.
Lea’s reaction, Jackie said, was ‘totally unwarranted’.
![Not satisfied: 'When you say "fellow cast members, how I was perceived by them" that is not [an apology]. Not really,' Jackie said](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/04/01/4BB05F4F00000578-5689373-image-m-45_1525394100597.jpg?resize=634%2C360&ssl=1)
Not satisfied: ‘When you say “fellow cast members, how I was perceived by them” that is not [an apology]. Not really,’ Jackie said
‘Oh god, the frickin’ backlash I got,’ Jackie recalled on air in 2018. ‘She made my life hell!’
‘She pretty much banned her agent, who looked after heaps of celebrities, we got blacklisted from everyone because she was so offended at a question that was in the news already!’ she added.
‘Who cares about that kid — can’t stand that girl,’ Kyle responded.
‘She pretty much banned her agent, who looked after heaps of celebrities, we got black-listed from everyone because she was so offended at the question, that was in the news already,’ Jackie claimed
All the stars that have spoken out against Lea Michele
Samantha Ware
Glee actress Samantha re-ignited rumors of Lea Michele’s alleged bad behavior on-set, when she responded to Michele’s post regarding the death of George Floyd earlier this week. Ware, 33, said: ‘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.’
Kicking off: Samantha Ware made claims about Lea Michele earlier this week.
Alex Newell
Alex – who starred as Unique Adams on series for four seasons – promptly aired his feelings on Twitter. ‘We ain’t got not a damn thing to lie about 6 years later!’ he replied to one fan who suggested they were making false accusations about Michele’s behavior.
Dabier Snell
Actor Dabier Snell, who appeared in one episode of Glee, claimed he wasn’t allowed to sit with Michele on set, saying: ‘GIRL YOU WOULDNT LET ME SIT AT THE TABLE WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS CAUSE ‘I DIDNT BELONG THERE’ F–K YOU LEA,’
Amber Riley
Riley, who played Mercedes Jones in the through all six seasons, shared two GIFs of herself following the allegations, one raising her hand, while the other sipping tea. The response caused a stir among fans who saw it as a subtle way of the actress chiming in.
Bad memories: Lea on Glee with Chris Colfer and Heather Morris
Heather Morris
Morris, 33, who played cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce on the Ryan Murphy show, claims Michele was ‘very’ unpleasant to work with, saying: ”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.’
Melissa Benoist
Supergirl star Melissa Benoist, who appeared on Glee with Lea Michele, liked a series of posts describing star’s bullying and abusive behavior toward castmates. Benoist appeared on Glee’s fourth season playing a character named Marley Rose. She sang a duet with Michele on the series. She also pressed the heart button on tweets from Glee’s Alex Newell and Amber Riley that essentially endorsed the spirit of Ware’s sentiments.
RHONY’s Aviva Drescher
Even Real Housewives of New York star Aviva Drescher had a story to tell, commenting: ‘You were once very unkind to me so I am not surprised by your behavior. You shouldn’t judge others before looking in the mirror.’ Michele made disparaging remarks about Drescher during an episode of Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live.
Awkward: Lea slated Aviva on a 2014 appearance on Watch What Happens Live!
Abigail Breslin
Scream Queens actress Breslin, 24, was another former co-star who was caught ‘liking’ a smattering of tweets about the controversy. Including one that read: “not everyone agreeing that something felt off about Lea Michele… where have y’all been i’ve BEEN saying this FOR YEARS??? i thought i was alone.’
Yvette Nicole Brown
Actress Yvette Nicole Brown also gave her support to Ware. ‘I felt every one of those capital letters,’ the Community actress tweeted ‘EVERY person on a set matters. EVERY person on a set deserves respect. And it is the RESPONSIBILITY of every series regular to make EVERY person who visits their home feel welcome. This dismissive attitude is what’s wrong in Hollywood AND the world.’
Marcel Spears
The Mayor actor reacted to an array of replies to Ware’s initial tweet, including one directly asking Yvette Nicole Brown: ‘I assume u feel the same since u worked with her?’
Gerard Canonico
Broadway actor Gerard Canonico, 30, was an understudy in the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening starring Michele and her BFF Jonathan Groff. ‘You were nothing but a nightmare to me and fellow understudy cast members. You made us feel like we didn’t belong there,’ Canonico wrote in a comment on her Instagram apology, which he had re-posted after claiming it had initially been deleted.
Under fire: Lea Michele in April 2019