Glee Star Loses Endorsement Gig After Bullying Claims

HelloFresh cuts ties with Lea Michele after accusations by former co-star Samantha Ware
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 3, 2020 9:55 AM CDT
After Star Backs Protests, a Glee Controversy Is Exposed
In this Sept. 24, 2018, file photo, actress Lea Michele arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "A Star Is Born."   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Mom-to-be Lea Michele is facing up to her "immaturity" on the set of Glee after a former co-star claimed she'd made her experience on the show "a living hell." Samantha Ware, who played Jane Hayward on Glee's final season in 2015, spoke out after Michele (Glee's Rachel Berry) expressed her support for Black Lives Matter in a Friday tweet. "Lmao remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause ill never forget," Ware, an African American actress, responded Monday, writing in all caps, per Variety. "I believe you told everyone that if [you] had the opportunity you would 's--- in my wig!' amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood." Others soon entered the fray, with Jeante Godlock of Netflix's Daybreak, who's also black, claiming Michele referred to background actors as "cockroaches."

On Tuesday, HelloFresh said it was cutting ties with Michele, who'd served as a spokesperson since January, per Business Insider. "HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind" and "we are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele," it said. Michele's apology came a day later. "I don't remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin," but "I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people," she wrote on Instagram. "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." (Kate Hudson reportedly thought Michele was a nightmare.)

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