Lea Michele Apologizes After Glee Cast Calls Out Anti-Black Behavior

Former Glee star Lea Michele has responded after fellow cast member Samantha Ware called her out for “traumatic microaggressions” during filming. In a statement given to People, Lea pledged to do better, saying, “I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people.”

On May 29, Lea had shared her Twitter support for the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd, a Black man who was killed when a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. On June 1, Samantha, who portrayed Jane Hayward on the series, responded, accusing Lea of turning her time on Glee into a “living hell.”

Two days later, on June 3, Lea responded, making an exclusive statement to People. "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," she said. “When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time.”

She continued, acknowledging that the responses to her original tweet "made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them."

Telling People that she didn't remember “ever making this specific statement” directed at Samantha, Lea noted, "I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that’s not really the point. What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people."

She followed that up with a pledge to do better, saying, "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. We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings."

“I am a couple of months from becoming a mother,” she continued, "and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me. 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."

Lea's apology, which was just posted at 7 a.m. EST, has not yet received a response from Samantha. However, as Teen Vogue previously reported, others had accused Lea of similar behavior, including Dabier Snell and former RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Willam, who had a cameo in the series’ fourth season. And while Amber Riley did not make a public statement regarding Lea's treatment of others, she did share a few appropriate GIFs. According to a source with People, Lea has reached out to some of her former Glee costars over the past few days.

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