Glee 's Matthew Morrison Addresses Lea Michele Allegations
Matthew Morrison is speaking out following Samantha Marie Ware's accusations about working with Lea Michele on Glee.
The 41-year-old actor was asked about discussions around the allegations during a recent interview on FUBAR Radio's Access All Areas. "I honestly think it's a distraction of, you know, the bigger issues that are going on right now," Morrison, who played Will Schuester, said. "I'm just kind of like, eh."
Morrison then made it clear he didn't "want to comment too much on it."
"Yeah, going back to what I was saying, you know, you want to be a good, pleasant person to be around," he added.
Followers learned about the allegations after Michele shared the following tweet about the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
"George Floyd did not deserve this," the 33-year-old actress wrote at the time. "This was not an isolated incident and it must end."
Ware then replied by writing, "LMAO 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--t in my wig!' amongst other traumatic microagressions that made me question a career in Hollywood…"
Just a few days later, Michele issued an apology on social media.
"One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people's perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices that they face," the Rachel Berry celeb wrote. "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 then went on to say that while she didn't "remember ever making this specific statement" and that she has "never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that's not really the point," noting that "what matters is" she "clearly acted in ways which hurt other people."
"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 pain which I have caused," Michele continued. "We can all grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings."
Michele, who is pregnant with her first child, then added, "I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me."
"I listened to these criticisms and I am learning," she concluded, "and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience."
Ware later spoke to Variety and accused Michele of threatening to call Glee creator Ryan Murphy and have her fired from her job. The 28-year-old actress, who played Jane Hayward on the show, told the outlet she didn't report the alleged behavior to the network or studio because she didn't know filing a complaint was an option. Representatives for Murphy, 20th Century Fox Television and Michele declined to comment.
Morrison isn't the only one from the show to address the allegations. Heather Morris did, as well.
"Let me be very clear," the 33-year-old actress, who played Brittany Pierce, wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. "Hate is a disease in America that we are trying to cure, so I would never wish for hate to be spread to anyone else. With that said, was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so; for Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she should be called out."
"And yet, it's also on us because to allow it to go on for so long without speaking out is something else we're learning about with the rest of society," she continued. "But, at the current moment it's implied that she is a racist and although I cannot comment on her beliefs, I think we're assuming, and you know what happens when we all assume…"
Amber Riley also spoke about the accusations during an interview with Danielle Young.
"I am not going to say that Lea Michele is racist," the 34-year-old actress, who played Mercedes Jones, said during part of the interview. "That's not what I'm saying. That was the assumption because of what's going on right now in the world, and it happened toward a Black person. I'm not going to say that she's racist."
She later said she doesn't "give a s--t about this Lea Michele thing," noting there are "people out here dying."
"If it aint about defunding the police, prosecuting killer cops, or Black Lives Matter or my EP that's coming out…if it's not about those things, I don't care," Riley said.
To listen to Morrison's full interview head over to FUBAR Radio.