Samantha Ware, who appeared in the sixth season of Glee, has taken to Twitter to address her former co-star Lea Michele regarding controversial events that took place on-set.
On May 30, Michele posted a brief message to her Twitter regarding the Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd, writing: “George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter.”
Michele’s former co-star, Samantha Ware, played Jane Hayward in the series and has gone on to appear in What/If, Chicago Med, and Barry. On June 2, Ware replied to Michele’s tweet, and recalled times when she and Michele clashed during filming, even claiming that she made her life “a living hell”.
Yvette Nicole Brown, who starred alongside Michele in the series The Mayor, looked to agree with Ware’s tweet, writing “I felt every one of those capital letters.”
Michele has since released a statement, saying: “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 colour 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 colour 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 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. 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.”
Adding to the backlash from her former coworkers overnight, some of Michele’s business partners seem to have cut ties with her. On June 3, meal-provider HelloFresh announced their decision regarding the claims, via Twitter, 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,” the post read. “We take this very seriously, and have terminated our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately.”
