Glee may not be the emotion Lea Michele is feeling right now as she begins to experience fallout from an allegation made by a former co-star that she was horrible on the set of the television series Glee.
According to Variety, Michele was dropped by the meal-kit company HelloFresh as an endorser after her Glee co-star, Samantha Ware, accused her of making her time on the show “a living hell.”
In a statement posted on their Twitter account, the company said that they did not approve of discrimination or racism of any kind and that the claims made against Michele were something that ended up disappointing the company. In the tweet, they said that the termination of their partnership with Michele would end immediately as they took claims like the one Ware made very seriously.
People reached out to the brand regarding the termination of the partnership and HelloFresh confirmed that it had indeed cut ties with the 33-year-old actress. Michele is one of the brand’s most active endorsers, talking about HelloFresh to her 6.5 million followers as recently as May 20.
On that Instagram post, Michele stressed how important HelloFresh was to her during the lockdowns brought about the global coronavirus pandemic and praised its “fresh ingredients and recipes.”
Samantha Ware made her allegations earlier this week after Michele tweeted about the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd. Ware quote-retweeted Michele and claimed that the actress made her time on the show unbearable.
According to Ware, she endured “traumatic microagressions” from Michele, who she said threatened to “s--t in her wig.” Ware said that the experience was so horrible that it made her think twice about pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.
Ware’s claims gained even more weight after two more of Michele’s co-stars on Glee seemed to support her statement. Amber Riley, who played Mercedes Jones for six seasons on the show, replied with a gif of herself. Alex Newell, who spent four seasons on the show, replied with a RuPaul gif.
Making Ware’s allegations even more explosive is the explosive political situation in the United States, brought about by the killing of George Floyd. After policeman Derek Chauvin killed Floyd by keeping his knee on Floyd’s neck, protest erupted all over the United States, drawing even celebrities like Halsey, Paris Jackson, Emily Ratajkowski, Ariana Grande, Tessa Thompson, Tinashe, Kehlani, Miguel, Machine Gun Kelly, Cole Sprouse, and Timothee Chalamet.
More than 300 cities in the United States protested Floyd’s death, including Louisville, Kentucky; Boise, Idaho; Honolulu, Hawaii; Atlanta, Georgia; Hartford, Connecticut; Tucson, Arizona; Birmingham, Alabama; Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; New York City, New York; Oakland, California; Los Angeles, California; Washington D.C., and dozens more.