The star is under fire for the way she treated her Glee co-stars. Photo / Getty Images
The star is under fire for the way she treated her Glee co-stars. Photo / Getty Images
Actress Lea Michele has been dumped from a major partnership amid accusations she made life on set a "living hell" for one of her former Glee co-stars.
Hello Fresh announced on Tuesday that it was ending its association with the actress, who had been one of its ambassadors.
"HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind. We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele," the company tweeted from its official account.
Michele was sharing sponsored Hello Fresh content on Instagram as recently as a fortnight ago.
It comes after Samantha Ware, who played Jane Hayward on the musical series for its sixth season in 2015, responded to a tweet written by Michele amid the riots in the US after George Floyd's death at the hands of police.
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
Michele, who played the show's leading lady Rachel Berry, wrote, "George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter".
In a shocking response to the tweet, Ware publicly confronted Michele, alleging she made her time on the show a "living hell".
In her all-caps response to Michele's tweet, Ware wrote that she would "never forget" the "traumatic microagressions" she claims to have received from Michele - including a shocking allegation that Michele had "told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's**t in my wig!'"
Ware has been fiercely supported by other Glee cast members. At least four have come forward to back her claims, including central cast members Alex Newell (Unique Adams) and Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), who weighed in with not-so-cryptic responses.
Responding to fans who questioned the version of events, Newell wrote: "Child we ain't got not a damn thing to lie about 6 years later!"
Samantha Ware publicly confronted her co-star on Twitter. Photo / Getty Images, Supplied
Riley tweeted several GIFs of herself throwing knowing glances as the original tweet gained traction on social media.
Popular drag queen and actor Willam Belli also weighed in, saying he left the set of Glee after Michele treated him as "subhuman". Belli is understood to have been booked for an episode in 2012 but never ended up appearing on the series.
An extra named Dabier also detailed his experience after appearing in an episode of the show in 2014, responding to the tweet revealing Michele told him he "couldn't sit at her table" because he "didn't belong there".
It's certainly not the first time Michele has been hit with negative reviews of her workplace conduct.
The star is under fire for the way she treated her Glee co-stars. Photo / Getty Images
During her time on Glee, rumours began to swirl Michele was difficult to work with.
She was regularly dogged by reports of a feud with her co-star, Naya Rivera, who played tough cheerleader Santana Lopez on the hit teen series.
"They're always icy to each other," a source told Us Weekly in 2014. "Naya is jealous that Lea is the show's main star … There is a lot of sighing and eye-rolling between them."
Then TMZ reported the pair finally had an almighty clash on set, with rumours Michele stormed off the show and Riviera confronted the director. The pair have denied reports of a feud.
But in her 2016 book, Riviera talked about "one particular Glee star" who "amped up her bitch factor".
Riviera claims that one day on set, Michele snapped at a producer because she'd shown up to film a dinner scene and was "pulling a diva fit about everything".
Many magazines also reported Michele didn't get along with Kate Hudson when she guest starred on the show, which they have also denied.
TMZ claimed Michele had "snapped her fingers" during filming of an episode and said, "Let's go. I have plans."
Australia's own Jackie "O" Henderson also managed to get on Michele's bad side at one point.
Jackie O revealed in 2018 that Michele's reaction to one of her questions in an interview on her radio show several years ago was "totally unwarranted".
"They got screwed over those kids," Jackie O said about the Glee stars.
"They signed up for that first season and they [the producers] made sure they signed them on for like six seasons after, even if it was the biggest show, they wouldn't get a pay rise.
"That was a big story so I asked about it," Jackie O added.
But Michele did not appreciate being asked about the rumour.
"Oh God, the frickin' backlash I got," Jackie O recalled.
"She made my life hell. She pretty much banned her agent, who looked after heaps of celebrities, we got black-listed from everyone because she was so offended at the question that was in the news already."
Glee has been plagued by tragedy and scandal over the years. Two of its lead male stars, Cory Monteith and Mark Salling are now dead.
Monteith, who was engaged to Michele at the time of his death, died of a drug overdose in 2013.
Salling took his own life in 2018, weeks before he was due to be sentenced on child pornography charges.
