On June 1, Lea Michele took to Twitter to join the ranks of dozens of stars sharing their outrage over George Floyd's treatment and death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers on May 25. But her words struck a false chord for several of her old "Glee" co-stars.
"George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter," tweeted Lea, who played Rachel Berry on "Glee" for all six seasons and earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her performance.
Actress Samantha Marie Ware, who appeared on 11 episodes during season 6 of the hit FOX show and has since been on "What/If," "NCIS: New Orleans" and "Margot vs. Lily," replied with a tweet of her own that took issue with Lea weighing in on how people treat each other.
"LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET," Samantha wrote in all caps. "I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD 'S— IN MY WIG!' AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD…"
"Community" star Yvette Nicole Brown responded to Sammie's tweet, "I felt every one of those capital letters." After seeing that comment, "Glee" actor Alex Newell — who first appeared on the show during season 4 and more recently appeared on "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" — added "Felt like claps!!" then posted some GIFs supporting Sammie as well as the message, "I'm gonna say this one time… when my friends goes through something traumatic I also go through it… that's what friendship is… and if you can't understand that then you're part of the problem… and that's on PERIODT! And I mean that for both sides of this coin!"
Longtime "Glee" star Amber Riley, who played Mercedes Jones, also waded in, though she stuck to GIFs, posting one of herself raising her hand as if she had something to add to the conversation, followed by another of herself sipping some tea. The implication was clear.
Actor-musician Dabier, who appeared on an episode of "Glee" in 2014, called Lea out by name in another all-caps tweet. "GIRL YOU WOULDNT LET ME SIT AT THE TABLE WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS CAUSE 'I DIDNT BELONG THERE' F— YOU LEA," he wrote.
They're not the first "Glee" stars to weigh in on Lea's alleged on-set behavior. In her 2016 memoir "Sorry Not Sorry," actress Naya Rivera — who played cheerleader Santana Lopez on the show — opened up about their roller coaster working relationship.
"One of the Glee writers once said that Lea and I were like two sides of the same battery and that about sums us up. We are both strong willed and competitive — not just with each other but with everyone — and that's not a good mixture," Naya wrote, as reported by E! News. "As the show progressed, though, that friendship started to break down, especially as Santana moved from a background character to one with bigger plot lines and more screen time. I think Rachel — erm, I mean Lea — didn't like sharing the spotlight."
Naya continued, "On top of that, she had a hard time separating work from our outside friendship, whereas it was a lot easier for me. I'm not offended when people offer feedback or criticism, and if things get heated on set, I try to keep perspective. We're all stressed, yes, but we're all working toward the same goal, so laugh it off and keep it movin'. Lea was a lot more sensitive, though, and it seemed like she blamed me for anything and everything that went wrong."
According to Naya, "If I'd complained about anyone or anything, she'd assumed I was b—-ing about her. Soon, she started to ignore me, and eventually it got to the point where she didn't say a word to me for all of season 6. Lea and I definitely weren't the best of friends, and I doubt we'll ever sit on her couch and eat kale together again, but the rumors of our 'feud' were blown out of proportion."