Lea Michele Responds to ‘Glee’ Costars Accusations – NBC Chicago

Lea Michele is not afraid to face the music.

More than two years after several of her former ‘Glee’ co-stars accused her of displaying petty behavior on set, the actress has opened up about the backlash online and shared what she withdrew from the experience.

“I think the last two years have been so important for everyone to sit down and reflect,” she said in an Interview magazine article on Feb. 7. “I made a lot of personal contact. But the most important thing was for everyone to take a step back.”

Michele noted that these behind-the-scenes conversations had an impact as she learned to see the bigger picture.

“At the end of the day, what matters most is how you make people feel and you have to put your feelings aside,” she said. “The conversations I’ve had behind the scenes with some people have been incredibly healing and very revealing to me.”

Reflecting on her personal journey, the 36-year-old noted that she wasn’t looking “to blame anything on the things I’ve been through in my life”.

“But you can’t ignore these experiences or deny them either,” she continued. “They are part of the patchwork of my life.”

In 2020, Samantha Marie Ware, who appeared on “Glee” as Jane Hayward, accused Michele of making her first TV gig “hell.”

“I believe you told everyone that if you had the chance you would be ‘— in my wig!'” Ware wrote in a since-deleted June 2020 tweet, “among other micro- traumatic assaults that made me question a career in Hollywood.”

Days later, ‘Glee’ star Heather Morris wrote about Twitter“Was she unpleasant to work with? Absolutely; for Lea to treat others with the disrespect she did for as long as she did, I think she SHOULD be called out.”

On the same day, Michele wrote a public apology. “While I don’t recall making this specific statement and have never judged others on their background or skin color, that’s not really the point,” Michele wrote. “What matters is that I clearly acted in such a way as to hurt others.”

She continued, “Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that at times caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate or whether it was simply my immaturity and being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior and for any pain. which I have caused.”

Now, Michele is hoping for a fresh start. As she explained to Interview, her current role on Broadway’s “Funny Girl” gives her the chance to “introduce people to who I am now.”

“More than anything, I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to positively apply the things I’ve learned over the past ten years,” she added. “What I thought to myself going into ‘Funny Girl’ was, ‘If I can’t make my off-stage leading role as important as my on-stage leading role, then I shouldn’t be doing this show. Because it’s always been a struggle for me.”