Lea Michele an American actress, singer and songwriter (like Erykah Badu) has announced she is taking a break. During an interview with The New York Times she opened up regarding her past accusations that she was at the front line of building a toxic workplace, especially during her time when she was appearing on the successful series “Glee.”
Though no definite allegations have been addressed by her Lea actually tried to give a glimpse of her work process that may have rubbed the co-stars wrongly. She told the outlet “I have an edge to me,” adding “I work really hard. I leave no room for mistakes. That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism left me with a lot of blind spots.”
Her co-star Samantha Marie Ware also put a few accusations came from who accused Michele of making her “first television gig a living hell.” In 2015 Samantha portrayed the character of Jane Hayward on eleven episodes of Glee whereas Lea played the role of Rachel Berry for the entire season.
Samantha Marie Ware further also added that Lea “told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘s**t in my wig!’ among other traumatic micro aggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.”
During that time the 36-year-old actress responded to this statement “I don’t remember ever making this specific statement,” however Samantha was not the single one who made similar allegations. Michele co-star Heather Morris also opened up against her attitude as well as Gerard Canonico who was her Spring Awakening co-star on Broadway.
Lea also told the outlet that following “intense time of reflection,” she is understanding that professionalism is not just restricted to the rolling cameras. Michele said “I really understand the importance and value now of being a leader,” adding further “It means not only going and doing a good job when the camera’s rolling, but also when it’s not. And that wasn’t always the most important thing for me.”
She also opened up on speculations surrounding her reading skills which began spreading back in 2018 following several podcasters sharing about it on Facebook. Lea denied the claim by calling the speculations sexist. She said “I went to Glee every single day; I knew my lines every single day,” adding “And then there’s a rumor online that I can’t read or write? It’s sad. It really is. I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case.”
Following the rumor Lea appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, where a fan questioned her about rumors that she is uneducated. She responded by saying she was confused that someone would rustle up a 45-minute video materializing this conspiracy theory.
While denying the rumor she said amongst other things that she was accepted into NYU and that in fact the creator of Glee, Ryan Murphy called her following the rumors circulated and questioned her, “Do people think I have time in my life to do this?”
Well, let us know your opinions on Leo Michele’s controversies and stay tuned with Venturejolt for more such news.