Samantha Ware reveals not so sweet harmony with Glee co-star Lea Michele

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

"And that's what you missed on Glee!" The popular Fox musical series, which ran from 2009-2015, ended 5 years ago but a recent tweet sparked a revelation that has resulted in a lost business opportunity and public apologies.

This song and dance all began on Tuesday when Glee star, Lea Michele, sent out a tweet in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd last month. The tweet read “George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter." Michele's tweet did not sit well with former co-star, Samantha Ware, who played Jane Hayward during the final season of the series. Ware wrote her reply in all capital letters, accusing Michele of making her life a “living hell” on Glee. Her post added that Michele had subjected her to “traumatic microaggressions” including threatening to “sh*t in my wig.” You can view the Twitter exchange below:

The response on social media was pretty swift with many putting their support behind Ware, including some of their Glee co-stars, extras, and background actors. Many of them shared their own personal stories of negative experiences on-set with Michele which seemed to establish a pattern of behavior that was being called out by Ware. Alex Newell, who was on the show for four seasons, was very vocal on social media in support of Ware and when a follower asked if this was true Newell responded with "We ain't got not a damn thing to lie about 6 years later!" One of Glee's core stars, Amber Riley, posted several GIFS in response to the tweet, signaling she agreed with Ware's comments. Melissa Benoist, who joined Glee in season 4 before going on to don the cape on Supergirl, liked all the posts made by Ware, Riley, and Newell. Dabier Snell, who did one episode of Glee, was more telling in their interaction with Michele which definitely wasn't pleasant judging from this tweet:

Yvette Nicole Brown, who co-starred with Michele on The Mayor before it was canceled after one season, also supported Ware and seemed to insinuate the same disrespectful behavior by saying “I felt every one of those capital letters…every person on a set matters. Every person on a set deserves respect. And it is the responsibility of every series regular to make every person who visits their home feel welcome. This dismissive attitude is what’s wrong in Hollywood and the world.”

The whole debacle swiftly led to Michele losing her partnership with meal-kit company HelloFresh. Michele has posted sponsored images on her social media with HelloFresh, which has a roster of paid partnerships with actors and reality TV personalities with large Instagram followings. The company issued the following statement about her termination:

"HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind. We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele. We take this very seriously and have ended our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately."

Obviously feeling the heat, Michele did take to Instagram this morning and issued an apology for “any pain which I have caused” after reflecting on how her actions were perceived by her co-stars. You can check out her full apology below:

Moral of this story? Be nice and respectful to your co-workers because you never know when your words from the past might come back and bite you. I hope Michele's apology is sincere although "not remembering" and saying she's sorry for how THEY perceived her behavior doesn't sound like taking 100% ownership. She doesn't deny it happened which might be telling about how things were run on this show which, despite its wholesome nature, has been no stranger to drama over the years.