She’s back. Lea Michele has returned to social media for the first time since her Glee costars slammed her and accused her of treating them badly on set.
Taking to her Instagram Stories on Saturday, July 4, the actress shared her first snap since the drama went down. In the new pic, she showed off her growing baby bump in black leggings and a black sports bra, as she went for a hike.
For those who missed it, Samantha Ware replied to a message on June 1, 2020, that Lea had posted in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement following George Floyd‘s tragic death, and claimed that she made her life a “living Hell” on set.
“Remember when you my first television gig a living Hell?!?! ‘Cause I’ll never forget,” she fired back. “I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘s**t in my wig’ amongst other traumatic microagressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.”
After that, many other stars, including Heather Morris, Dabier Snell, Jordan Pruitt, Amber Riley and more, spoke out and accused the actress of treating them badly behind-the-scenes. Imia Edwards, who worked on the show in 2012, even told The Sun in an interview that she heard “multiple” people say Lea called the extras “cockroaches” behind-the-scenes.
“I’ve never really seen anyone treat extras like that, to that level of, ‘Ugh, don’t look at me, don’t make eye contact, ugh cockroaches, there they are.’ Dude, we’re still coworkers, we’re still people, all trying to get this episode done as a group,” she said. “I think I was even on a different show and someone was like, ‘Oh, you know Lea’s a b***h, right? She calls the extras cockroaches.”
Lea then issued a public apology. Taking to Instagram on June 2, 2020, the Fox star 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 neighbors 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 behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them,” Lea continued in her statement. “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. 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.”
“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,” the 33-year-old concluded. “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.”
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.
