Samantha Ware on Lea Michele: 'She Hasn't Learned Anything'

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, Lea Michele is under fire by various people who have worked with her on stage and screen over the years. The controversy was sparked by Samantha Ware, who spoke out about the way she was treated by Michele on the set of Glee. Now Ware is speaking up to Variety about making the choice to speak up:

"Does Lea even know what a microaggression is? I don't know. All that her apology did was affirm that she hasn't learned anything. Am I calling Lea a racist? No. Does Lea have racist tendencies? I think Lea suffers from a symptom of living in this world in an industry that is tailored to white people."

On Michele's behavior, she added: "When I tried to speak up for myself, she told me to shut my mouth. She said I don't deserve to have that job. She talked about how she has reign. And here's the thing: I completely understood that, and I was ready to be like, 'This is your show. I'm not here to be disrespectful.' But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power."

The drama began when Michele tweeted in response to the George Floyd murder with the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, to which Ware, who worked with Michele on Glee in 2015, responded.

Ware wrote, "LMAO remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause ill never forget. I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would "shit in my wig!" amongst other traumatic microagressions that made me question a career in Hollywood..."

Lea has since issued an apology in response. "I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused," says Michele. "We can all grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings."

Read our original story here.