As Lea Michele takes over the lead in Funny Girl on Broadway, past Glee co-star Samantha Ware is making sure fans know her stance on the ordeal.
Lea, whose character on the fictional Fox series Glee portrayed the role of Fanny Brice on Broadway, will be bringing the character to life as she steps into the leading role on September 6th.
The replacement news was announced shortly after the current Fanny Brice, Beanie Feldstein, released her statement on Instagram that she would be leaving the show earlier than expected on July 31. Beanie stated the production had decided to “take the show in a different direction,” following much less-than-rave reviews and decreasing ticket sales since its March opening.
Sammie Ware was unhappy about Funny Girl casting Lea Michele
Although some “Gleeks” have shown excitement about bringing the fictional show to real life, others have recalled the negative stories released about Lea during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 in regards to her abusive behavior on set.
One of Lea’s Glee co-stars, Samantha “Sammie” Ware, took to her Instagram and Twitter after the casting news was released on Monday.
“Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, im affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again,” she said.
After Lea posted a message in regards to George Floyd back in 2020, many of her former co-stars stepped in to call out the actress on the juxtapositional sentiment — including Samantha and Amber Riley. Other cast mates, such as Heather Morris, also stepped in with their addition on how unpleasant it was to work with Lea behind the cameras.
Samantha claimed that Lea had made her life a “living hell” during Season 6 of Glee, saying Lea made traumatic microaggressive comments to the actress on set.
“LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE I’LL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD S**T IN MY WIG,'” Samantha wrote to Lea on Twitter.
Lea Michele’s apology for her behavior towards former co-stars
After being called out by many individuals who had worked with Lea prior, the actress took to Instagram to apologize for her previous behavior and hold herself accountable for the way she treated others on set.
“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” she wrote.
“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,” she continued.
She finished, “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 paid which I have caused.”
Although Lea may have apologized for her behavior towards her fellow cast mates years ago, it seems as if Samantha Ware still doesn’t believe the future Fanny deserves the leading lady spot.