Glee actress Samantha Marie Ware has claimed that Lea Michele threatened to call the show’s boss Ryan Murphy and have her fired.
The actress, who appeared in the musical comedy-drama alongside Michele, previously accused her of “traumatic microaggressions” that made her “question a career in Hollywood”.
Her comments came after the actress tweeted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd.
Speaking to Variety, Ware detailed Michele’s alleged behaviour towards her after she joined Glee for its sixth season.
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
— SAMEYAAAAAA (@Sammie_Ware) June 2, 2020
Ware said: “I knew from day one when I attempted to introduce myself. There was nothing gradual about it. As soon as she decided that she didn’t like me, it was very evident.
“It was after I did my first performance, that’s when it started – the silent treatment, the stare-downs, the looks, the comments under her breath, the weird passive aggressiveness. It all built up.”
Ware, who played Jane in the series, also detailed an alleged incident in which Michele threatened to have her fired while filming a large group scene.
She said: “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.”
Ware said she had been 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 saying: “You need to come here right now.”
Ware said she politely refused, telling Variety: “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.”
Michele previously apologised in a lengthy statement, saying she “used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings” and conceded she may have been “unnecessarily difficult”.
Meal-kit brand HelloFresh subsequently ended its partnership with the actress over the allegations.
Michele’s representatives have been contacted for comment.