It’s been a week since Glee star Lea Michele was dragged through the mud by her former co-stars for treating them like crap, and it appears she’s finally ready to face the backlash.
In case you missed the drama, Michele’s former co-stars including Samantha Ware, Amber Riley, Alex Newell, Heather Morris and Gerard Canonico called her out last week for being a “nightmare” to work with and exhibiting some grade A ‘mean girl’ behaviour.
Hear all about the Lea Michele controversy below:
Following the backlash, Michele issued a classic non-apology – but according to Page Six, she’s also been desperately trying to make amends.
“She’s had a real wake-up call,” a friend of Michele’s told The Post. “It’s never easy to hear people speak about you this way. It’s a total shock.”
“Lea was a b*tch to a lot of people who are now taking the opportunity to come forward,” an industry source who has worked with Michele told the publication. “She may not be the nicest person, but she’s not racist, sexist or transphobic. I would say she has behavioural issues that she’s dealing with.”
“She is listening, she hears what everyone says and wants to apologise. That is her past and she wants to handle things responsibly,” they added.
Michele’s reported epiphany isn’t the only positive thing to come out of the drama. Samantha Ware’s accusations against Michele sparked a wider conversation around the deep-rooted racism that exists in Hollywood.
In an Instagram Live interview with Danielle Young, Michele’s Glee co-star Amber Riley said “I am not going to say Lea Michele is racist. That was the assumption, because of what’s going on right now in the world and it happened toward a black person.”
However, she also revealed that she had received multiple DMs from other black actors “letting me know they dealt with the same things, and were terrorised by the white girls that were the leads of the show.”
“We all know that a person of colour and a black person is always the sidekick,” she said. Riley spoke about the “culture of Hollywood” and hearing stories of white women “using their privilege and the fact they’re ‘not fireable’” to terrorise their counterparts, but ultimately, had a clear response to the Lea Michele backlash.
“I don’t give a shit about this Lea Michele thing,” she said. “I don’t want to be asked about it…. People are out here dying, being murdered by police. Trans women are being murdered at the hands of men, who are upset about being trans-attracted.”
It sounds like Lea Michele has a long way to go in realising the full impact of her words and actions but if the reports are true, at least it’s a step in the right direction. Clearly, there are also far more pressing issues at hand – including the consistent pattern of racism in Hollywood, and within society at large.
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