Glee stars call out Lea Michele over racial microaggressions on set

2 June 2020, 15:45

The official trailer for the final season of Glee

By Sam Prance

Samantha Ware, Alex Newell and Amber Riley all put Lea Michele on blast for her actions.

Glee cast members have taken to Twitter to criticise Lea Michele for being complicit in microaggressions while on the show.

Yesterday (June 1), Lea Michele took to social media to speak out in defence of George Floyd and express her solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. She tweeted: "George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter".

READ MORE: Tamika Mallory says "America has looted black people" in Black Lives Matter speech

However, shortly after posting the tweet, Lea's former Glee co-stars, Samantha Ware, Alex Newell and Amber Riley all called her out on her hypocrisy.

Shortly after Lea posted her tweet, Samantha Ware, who starred as Jane in Glee season 6, retweeted Lea writing: "LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD “SHIT IN MY WIG!” AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD..."

Alex Newell, who played Unique in Glee, retweeted Samantha with a gif of Coco Montrese in RuPaul's Drag Race saying "Get her Jade!". They then added: "I’m gonna say this one time... when my friends goes through something traumatic I also go through it... that’s what friendship is... and if you can’t understand that then you’re part of the problem... and that’s on PERIODT! And I mean that for both sides of this coin!"

Meanwhile, Amber Riley, who acted the role of Mercedes throughout the show, appeared to allude to experiencing similar microaggressions with Lea. She posted a gif of her nodding in agreement and a gif of her sipping tea. She then posted another gif of her saying "Let's move on" with the hashtags: "#DefundThePolice #prosecutekillercops #BlackLivesMatter".

While it's important that we as white people speak out against racism, it's also necessary that we take accountability for the ways that we've been complicit in it and actively change our behaviour. As it stands, Lea Michele is yet to respond to her former co-stars comments. We shall update you if she does.

To find out more about police brutality, Black Lives Matter protests and ways in which you can help, visit: HERE.