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Heather Morris says Lea Michele's behavior on the 'Glee' set was kept 'very hush-hush' and reveals many were 'scared' to alert executives

May 29, 2021, 18:26 IST
Insider
Heather Morris and Lea Michele both starred on "Glee."Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images and Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
  • Heather Morris opened up about her experience working with Lea Michele on "Glee."
  • "It was something that was very hush-hush on set," Morris said of Michele's alleged behavior.
  • Michele was accused of mistreating former castmates, including "Glee" costar Samantha Ware.
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Heather Morris recently spoke out about her past experience working with Lea Michele on Fox's musical comedy "Glee," admitting that many of her costars were "scared" to go to network executives to sound the alarm on Michele's alleged behaivor.

Michele was accused of mistreating former castmates, including Morris and her "Glee" costar Samantha Marie Ware last summer. In a statement shared last year, Morris, who played Brittany on the show, stopped short of detailing what Michele allegedly did to her on set, instead writing she was "very much so...unpleasant to work with."

"It was something that was very hush-hush on set," Morris told Danny Pellegrino on the May 26 episode of his "Everything Iconic" podcast. "We absolutely could have stepped up and gone to the Fox execs and said how we felt about the situation, but no one did."

"I think many people were very scared, and I know, genuinely, I felt like it wasn't my place, and I don't know why because I was a cast member," she added.

Michele, who played Rachel on the hit show, ignited controversy last summer after posting a message in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, causing Ware and other stars to denounce her onset behavior.

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"I don't know if maybe we were victims of bullying, and it's a very victim thing to do to blame yourself, which is what people were saying, but ... the only person who was honest about it was Naya [Rivera]," Morris said of her late costar.

Lea Michele and Heather Morris on "Glee."20th Television

According to Morris, who also appeared in "Spring Breakers," Michele's behavior wasn't really discussed.

Along with accusing her of committing racist microagressions on set, Ware told Variety that Michele threatened to get her fired. "Daybreak" actress Jeanté Godlock also said Michele called the background actors of "Glee" "cockroaches." The actor Dabier, who appeared in the 2014 "Glee" episode "New Directions," said Michele "wouldn't let me sit at the table with the other cast members 'cause I didn't belong there."

Morris also said on the podcast that following the death of Michele's "Glee" costar and real-life boyfriend Cory Monteith in 2013, the set became a more nuanced situation.

"It was just the elephant in the room," she said of Michele's emotional state.

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Representatives for Michele didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Lea Michele and Naya Rivera costarred together in "Glee."20th Television
Michele apologized last year after the initial wave of backlash with a statement on Instagram.

Michele said she was trying to show her support of Black Lives Matter in her initial tweet, but was pushed by the responses to examine "how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them."

"While I don't remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that's not really the point," Michele wrote. "What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people."

"I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused," she added. "We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect my own shortcomings."

The actress, who was pregnant at the time, said she hoped her child could learn from her mistakes and concluded: "I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience."

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After six seasons, "Glee," which also starred Amber Riley, Matthew Morrison, and Jane Lynch, went off the air in 2015.

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