It was announced Monday that Glee star Lea Michele is replacing Beanie Feldstein in Broadway’s revival of Funny Girl and the internet was less than thrilled by the news. Samantha Ware, who came forward about Michele’s bullying behavior on the set of Glee in 2020, took to Twitter to share that she was disheartened by the news.
“Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again.”
Two years ago during the George Floyd protests, Michele declared herself an ally for Black people and how police brutality must end. This prompted Ware to reply:
“LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON [sic] GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU [sic] HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD ‘S—- IN MY WIG! AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS [sic] THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD...”
“She said I don’t deserve to have that job,” Ware also told Variety. “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.”
After other Glee stars came forward about Michele’s behavior toward them as well, she (kind of) issued an apology:
“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 behavior 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.”
Michele’s ability to treat her Black costars horribly and still be able to launch a comeback is peak white privilege.