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3 June 2020, 14:08
Lea Michele has apologised for ‘any pain caused’ in a statement which was posted in response to shock racist claims made by her former Glee co-star, Samatha Ware.
Lea Michele has released a statement responding to her former co-star Samantha Ware’s shock racist claims.
Samantha accused the 33-year-old of making her life ‘a living hell’ when the pair starred together on the hit show Glee.
It all started when Lea tweeted, saying: “George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end.”
Samantha then responded, writing: “Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?!...
“Cause I'll never forget... I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's*** in my wig!' amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.”
Leah has now said that although she doesn’t ‘remember ever making this specific statement’ she would like to apologise for ‘any pain caused’ and vowed to ‘be better in the future’.
The actor's full statement reads: “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 injustices they face.
“When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbours and communities of colour during this really difficult time.
“But the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus on how my own behaviour towards fellow cast members was perceived by them.
“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.
“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 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.”
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