A black actress has accused actress Lea Michele of burping in her face on the set of Fox’s musical drama, Glee.
Imia Edwards, who played a dancer standing in the hallway in a scene from Glee Season 6, told The Sun that Michele burped in her face as she walked past her in the scene.
“Take after take she had to walk by me in a huff, but in between certain things would just happen. She walked by me and burped in my face, this loud burp, directly almost face-to-face, it wasn’t even like, ‘oh she wouldn’t have known…’ she knew she burped in my face!”
Imia claimed that two other people, including an operator, witnessed the incident. She said that the operator apologized for Michele’s behavior.
Imia, 34, also claimed that during one of the takes, Michele, 33, deliberately stepped hard on her foot.
“After the second or third take she walked by me and stepped on my foot really hard. You know when you bump into someone you can feel it, again nothing, no reaction, like I wasn’t there.”
Imia said that being treated that way made her feel very bad.
Michele allegedly referred to extras as ‘cockroaches’
Imia, who described Lea as “cold,” claimed she learned that Michele sometimes referred to extras as “cockroaches” behind their backs.
“I’ve never really seen anyone treat extras like that… Dude, we’re still coworkers, we’re still people, all trying to get this episode done as a group. I think I was even on a different show and someone was like, ‘Oh, you know Lea’s a b**ch, right? She calls the extras cockroaches.'”
Glee cast members accused Lea Michele of bullying
Michele has been under fire lately, following accusations that she mistreated black cast members when they were filming Glee.
Several former black Glee cast members came forward to accuse Michele of bullying after she tweeted in support of Black Lives Matter activists protesting the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd in the hands of police officers.
George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter
— Lea Michele (@LeaMichele) May 29, 2020
Actor Dabier Snell reacted to Michele’s tweet by alleging that Michele mistreated him while they were filming Glee.
Snell claimed that Michele, who played the lead character, Rachel Berry, wouldn’t let him sit with other Glee cast members because he “didn’t belong there.”
GIRL YOU WOULDNT LET ME SIT AT THE TABLE WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS CAUSE “I DIDNT BELONG THERE” FUCK YOU LEA https://t.co/s4NoLdtqRs
— Dabier (@OfficialDabier) June 2, 2020
Actress Samantha Ware, who played Jane Hayward in Glee Season 6, also accused Michele of making her life on the set of Glee a “living hell.” Ware claimed that Michele told other cast members that she would “s**t” on Ware’s wig.
According to Ware, Michele’s “traumatic microaggressions” made her question her Hollywood career prospects.
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… https://t.co/RkcaMBmtDA
— SAMEYAAAAAA (@Sammie_Ware) June 2, 2020
Lea Michele later apologized
Michele later offered an apology for her past behavior toward fellow cast members.
She said that although she has “never judged others by their background or color of their skin,” she might have acted in ways that hurt other people.
Despite her apology, Michele continued to face a backlash on social media, and the meal-kit delivery company HelloFresh announced that they were ending their partnership with the actress.