‘Glee’ Star Samantha Ware Slams Casting of Lea Michele in ‘Funny Girl’: ‘Broadway Upholds Whiteness’

*While Lea Michele may be gushing over landing her dream role in “Funny Girl” on Broadway, one of her former “Glee” co-stars has taken to social media to remind folks that Lea is actually an arrogant mean girl — allegedly. 

Samantha Ware, who co-starred with Michele on the sixth season of Glee, responded to the news that Michele will be replacing Beanie Feldstein in the Broadway run of “Funny Girl” starting in September. In case you didn’t know… Broadway has the nickname “The Great White Way” due to all the electric white lights on the theatre marquees and billboard signs. Ware emphasized the “White” part in her reaction to Michele’s casting. 

“Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same,” Ware said in a tweet referencing Michele replacing Feldstein. “Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again.”

READ MORE: Samantha Ware on Why She Put Former ‘Glee’ Co-Star Lea Michele on Blast

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.

— SAMEYA (@Sammie_Ware) July 11, 2022

Ware previously took to Twitter to accuse Michele of creating a hellish work environment on the set of “Glee,” when she, among other things, allegedly threatened to s— in Ware’s wig, per EW. 

“She said I don’t deserve to have that job,” Ware said in a 2020 Variety interview. “She talked about how she has reign. And here’s the thing: I completely understood that, and I was ready to be like, ‘This is your show. I’m not here to be disrespectful.’ But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power.”

Ware said at the time that Lea’s toxic behavior on set went unchecked by the higher-ups. 

“Am I calling Lea a racist? No,” Ware told Variety. “Does Lea have racist tendencies? I think Lea suffers from a symptom of living in this world in an industry that is tailored to white people.”

Michele ultimately issued a half-ass apology on Instagram with the promise to “be better in the future.”

Ware wasn’t alone in her criticism of Lea Michele. Heather Morris also called the actress “unpleasant to work with” on “Glee.”

“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 tweeted.

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