Lea Michele breaks silence after being accused of ‘traumatic’ behaviour on set of Glee

Several former co-stars have come forward with allegations

Lea Michele has addressed the allegations she’s facing about her mean behaviour on the set of Glee, which was described by one of her co-stars as “traumatic”.

Earlier this week, Samantha Marie Ware claimed that the actor made her life a “living hell” due to “traumatic microaggressions” while filming the show.

Ware made the allegation in a reply to Michele’s post about the death of George Floyd while in custody of police officers in Minneapolis, and the anti-racism protests taking place around the world.

Other stars – including Alex Newell – then came forward with their own claims of Michele’s “bad” behaviour as the actor was dropped by meal-kit business HelloFresh’s ad campaign.

Amber Riley, who played Mercedes on the hit series, subtly backed up Ware’s claims by posting a photo with her hand raised.

“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,” Michele wrote on Instagram.

“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.”

Dabier Snell, who appeared in one episode of the Fox show, claims that Michele – who played Rachel Berry in the series – “didn’t let [him] sit at the table with the other cast members” because she allegedly told him he “didn’t belong there”.

He said that seeing Ware’s initial post “brought back bad memories” of Michele’s alleged behaviour on set.

Meanwhile, transgender NYC nightlife star Linux The Robot revealed she was an extra on the show in 2014 and claimed that Michele “randomly fired” another extra before realising it was Barbra Streisand‘s niece.

“She then quickly asked for her back on set to get her in touch with her aunt,” wrote Linx The Robot, who also claimed “the entire crew” were ”happy” when they got to film a scene in which Michele had to have eggs thrown at her by her fellow cast members.

The Independent has contacted Michele for comment.

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