If there’s one thing that gives the GOAT team joy during these dark times, it’s when a celebrity screws up big time and proceeds to dig themselves deeper by giving a crappy apology. Happily, this exact non-apology scenario has happened with Lea Michele finally breaking her silence after being called out by her Glee castmates for her racism and just generally being an awful person.
The GOAT team dive right into this Lea Michele non-apology drama on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
Just a quick reminder of what exactly went down, Lea Michele tweeted something in support of Black Lives Matters and the George Floyd protests only for fellow Glee alum Samantha Marie Ware to call her out for her racism while working together back in the day.
After subsequently copping it from other Glee cast and celebs from other projects, Lea Michele has finally broken her silence by giving an apology – exclusively – to People. And folks, it is a fine example in the art of the classic ‘non-apology apology’ that celebs live to dole out these days.
In fact, Lea Michele’s apology is so stuffed with clichés and follows such a tried-and-tested formula that you can literally break it down into bare parts. Which is exactly what we did, so let’s start with the first paragraph:
“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.”
Nice, she starts with the old table-setting intro to set the scene in very vague terms without actually mention anything or anyone in particular. Could easily be copy and pasted into literally any other apology ever given and it’ll still have the same effect.
“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, but the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them.”
Translation: The only reason I’m sharing this statement is because I got called out and it’s literally costing me my influencer partnership money.
Note how she doesn’t directly address the claims or directly name Samantha or any of her Glee castmates who called her out. Good use of the old side-step technique.
“While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement and 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.
Ah, the classic “I don’t remember” bit is deployed here in an attempt to absolve herself from any responsibility before being topped off with the frequently used “I’m not a racist but…” move. A bit clumsy TBH.
“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.”
The ol’ “I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you feel this way, but I’m not really that sorry” schtick. Note how she still doesn’t directly apologise to anyone by name but does strategically slide in the word “apologise” in the perfect spot to seem like she’s sorry.
Nice touch with the “privileged position” bit because not only does it show Lea Michele still not admitting she’s a privileged white person who’s done shitty things, she’s also not copping to what she’s being accused of doing.
“I am a couple of months from becoming a mother 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.”
Ooof, this is a big whammy of a finish. Starting with the classic pregnancy “I’m a mother” mention in an attempt to garner sympathy, she finishes with the tried-and-tested “I’ve listened and will be better in the future” ending sentence after demonstrating the complete opposite just moments prior.
So in short, Lea Michele’s “apology” says absolutely nothing of substance nor does it really count as an apology since she doesn’t acknowledge any of the racism claims leveled against her, her Glee cast mates by name, or even say a simple sorry that doesn’t feel disingenuous.
But hey, there is one takeaway from this “apology” from Lea Michele: she has learned absolutely nothing about being a POS or racism.
Take notes, celebs. This is a textbook example of a “non-apology apology” for next time you screw up.
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