Lea Michele is elated that she’s finally about to achieve her lifelong ambition of starring in Funny Girl on Broadway. “A dream come true is an understatement,” Michele wrote on Instagram on Monday (July 11) when the news broke about her taking over the headline role of Fanny Brice as original revival star Beanie Feldstein exits the show early.
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Not everyone, however, was as elated with the news. One of Michele’s former Glee co-stars on season 6, actress Samantha Ware — who has spoken out in the past about claims that Michele made “my first television gig a living hell” — appeared to slam the decision in a series of prickly tweets on Monday.
“Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, im affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused,” Ware wrote. “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.”
After Ware launched her initial accusations of maltreatment on the Glee set in summer 2020, a handful of other one-time cast members weighed in with similar allegations about Michele’s purportedly poor on-set behavior. “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,” Michele wrote at the time in an apology Insta. “We all can grow and change, and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings. … 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.”
In Monday’s note, Ware pointed out that she’s not any of those other actors who’ve complained about Michele. “Their experience was not mine and mine was not theirs,” she tweeted in a post in which she also touted her work on the OWN network series All Rise. “It’s wild that the decision to tell the truth about the people who tormented you at work is a career risk, but you can stay booked and busy as one of the tormentors.”
At press time a spokesperson for Michele had not returned a request for comment.
Check out Ware’s tweets below.
Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, im affected. Yes, I’m human. 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.
— SAMEYA (@Sammie_Ware) July 11, 2022
Also. My name is not Amber Riley or Alex Newell. Their experience was not mine and mines was not theirs.
— SAMEYA (@Sammie_Ware) July 11, 2022
It’s wild that the decision to tell the truth about the people who tormented you at work is a career risk, but you can stay booked and busy as one of the tormentors
— Ryan Ken (@Ryan_Ken_Acts) July 11, 2022
