Glee actor Samantha Marie Ware has spoken about working with Lea Michele for the first time since accusing the actor of making her life “living hell”.
Speaking toVariety, Ware, who initially called out Michele for displaying “traumatic microagressions” towards her, detailed how the show’s star showed “abusive” behaviour to her when she joined Glee for its sixth season in 2013.
“I knew from day one when I attempted to introduce myself. There was nothing gradual about it,” Ware said. “As soon as she decided that she didn’t like me, it was very evident.”
Describing “the silent treatment, the stare-downs, the looks, the comments under her breath, the weird passive aggressiveness,” the actor, who played Jane in the musical comedy, recalled one moment where Michele humiliated her by threatening to have her fired while filming a large group scene.
Ware explained: “When you’re shooting a scene, sometimes the camera is on you and sometimes it’s not, but you still have to be in the scene.
“The camera wasn’t on us, so it’s not like we had to give a full throttle performance, but apparently, I was goofing around when the camera wasn’t on me, and she took that as me being disrespectful to her.”
Despite receiving no notes from the director or production team, Ware was shocked when Michele “waited until the scene was over and she stopped in the middle of the stage and did a ‘come here’ gesture, like how a mother does to their child”, before demanding: “‘You need to come here right now.’”
“I said ‘no,’ and that’s when she decided to threaten my job, and said she would call Ryan Murphy in to come and fire me," Ware continued.
Admitting that she never knew reporting Michele’s behaviour was an option, the actor explained: “I remember the first day I actually spoke up and unfortunately no one did anything. They just shrugged it off, like ‘That’s her.’
“No one was stopping these things, which is an issue because the environment was helping perpetuate this abuse.”
Ware originally shared her experience with Michele after the actor posted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Ware responding: “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.”
Her tweet prompted fellow Glee stars Heather Morris and Alex Newell to come forward about Michele’s “bullying”, while trans model Plastic Martyr later accused the actor of making her feel like a “circus freak”.
The Independent has approached Michele’s representatives for comment.
