Yikes. Real Housewives of New York alum Aviva Drescher claimed former Glee star Lea Michele was “once very unkind” to her. Aviva’s comments join the growing list of accusations from Lea’s past costars and other industry members that she has made racist and insensitive comments throughout her career.
“I am not surprised by your behavior,” the 49-year-old commented on Lea’s apology post on Instagram on June 3. “You shouldn’t judge others before looking in the mirror.”
Aviva’s comment came the same day Lea’s former Broadway costar Gerard Canonico opened up about his experience working with her on the 2007 musical Spring Awakening.
“You were nothing but a nightmare to me and fellow understudy cast members,” the actor, 30, commented on her apology post after claiming his other comments were deleted. “You made us feel like we didn’t belong there. I tried for years to be nice to you to no avail. Maybe actually apologize instead of placing the blame on how others ‘perceive’ you. You’ll probably just delete this though.” Gerard also alleged the Bronx native deleted his previous comment on her post.
On June 1, Lea’s former Glee costar Samantha Ware called her out over her tribute tweet about the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“LMAO remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?” the 28-year-old wrote on social media. “‘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 microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood …”
Several of the singer’s other former castmates opened up about their experiences as well. “Did somebody say cockroaches? Because that’s what she used to refer to the background as on the set of Glee. But we grow up and we don’t stay background forever sooooo … “ Jeanté Godlock claimed. “GIRL, YOU WOULDN’T LET ME SIT AT THE TABLE WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS CAUSE ‘I DIDN’T BELONG THERE.’ F—K YOU LEA,” Dabier Snell alleged.
Lea lost her partnership with brand HelloFresh shortly after the allegations came to light on June 2. The actress issued an apology regarding her behavior on June 3.
“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 being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior,” she wrote, though she maintained she didn’t “remember” any of the alleged instances and has “never judged” someone by their race.