We're just gonna go ahead and say it:
Lea Michele must be the biggest A-Hole in Hollywood.
We don't have first-hand knowledge of her behavior, of course. So we can't say this for certain.
But it's rare to see an actress get publicly dragged the way Lea Michele has over the past few days.
It all started late last week when Michele Tweeted support of the protestors around the country, who have been organizing in response to the killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer.
"George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end," Michele wrote, along with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
On its own, this was a well-meaning statement.
Samantha Marie Ware, though, an actress who appeared on 11 episodes of Glee back in 2015, felt a need to call Michele out over it.
LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?!" Ware Tweeted.
"CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD 'S--- IN MY WIG!'
Ware said the incident was among "OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD...
Ware's Tweet quickly went viral and Ware was almost immediately supported by others who worked opposite Michele on Glee, such as Dabier.
GIRL YOU WOULDNT LET ME SIT AT THE TABLE WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS CAUSE “I DIDNT BELONG THERE” F--- YOU LEA," the actor wrote.
And also such as Alex Newell, who shared the following meme:
After seeing her reputation soiled online, and after getting fired as a spokeswoman for HelloFresh, Michele released an apology that reads as follows:
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.
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.
Michele's apology continued:
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.
Here's the thing, however, which you almost never see:
In the wake of Wednesday's mea culpa, the criticism of Michele has only grown LOUDER.
First, Ware took issue with a word Michele used in her statement because it implied she wasn't to blame for her behavior; those on the receiving end simply interpreted it incorrectly.
Next, Ware urged Michele to put some money where her spoiled mouth has been.
"Perceived? Purcieved? Purse? Open your purse??????????????" Ware wrote on Twitter, sharing a GoFundMe campaign for James Scurlock, a 22-year-old black man who was shot and killed in Omaha, Nebraska, over the weekend while participating in a protest over the murder of Floyd.
From there, everyone simply piled on Michele.
Late Wednesday, Heather Morris -- a main cast member who starred for six seasons on Glee along with Michele -- posted a statement to Twitter and said it was "unpleasant" to work with the actress.
"Let me be very clear, Hate is a disease in America that we are trying to cure, so I would never wish for that hate to be spread to anyone else," she wrote.
"With that said, was she unpleasant to work with?
"Very much so; for Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she SHOULD be called out."
Morris added:
"And yet, it's also on us because to allow it to go on for so long without speaking out is something else we're learning along with the rest of society."
"But, at the current moment its implied that she is a racist and although I cannot comment on her beliefs, I think we're assuming, and you know what happens when we all assume..."
Elsewhere, Gerard Canonico, who starred across from Michele in Broadway's Spring Awakening, also blasted the star.
"You were nothing but a nightmare to me and fellow understudy cast members,” Canonico wrote as a comment on Michele's Instagram page, adding:
“You made us feel like we didn’t belong there. I tried for years to be nice to you to no avail.
"Maybe actually apologize instead of placing the blame on how others ‘perceive’ you. You’ll probably just delete this though."
Heck, even The Real Housewives of New York alum Aviva Drescher got in on the trashing, leaving her own remark on Lea's Instagram that reads as follows:
"You were once very unkind to me so I am not surprised by your behavior. You shouldn't judge others before looking in the mirror."
Somewhere, Naya Rivera is nodding along with all these negative assessments.
The former Glee star has hated on Michele for years, labeling her a "bitch" way back in 2016 and writing in her memoir that Michele hated to "share the spotlight" and that she would "leak stories to the press."
"In the end, I do wish that Lea and I had gotten along better, but I'm not losing sleep over it," Rivera concluded.
Michele has not yet commented on any of these new critiques.
She might be best served to just remain quiet, for a very long time.
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