Samantha Ware reveals why she spoke out about Lea Michele

As celebrities voice their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, some are finding themselves having to answer for past incidents of non-allyship. In the case of Lea Michele, problematic treatment of her Glee co-stars has been shared on social media after actor and singer Samantha Ware questioned Michele’s support for the BLM movement.On May 29, Lea Michele tweeted about the killing of George Floyd and used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Two days later, Ware responded to Michele’s tweet and called out the actor for showing support for the movement after making racially fueled derogatory statements to Ware during their time working together on Glee in 2015.

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

[video_embed id='1971309']RELATED: Lea Michele apologizes for behaviour on set of 'Glee'[/video_embed]Following Ware’s initial tweet, other actors began sharing their negative experiences with Michele, including fellow Black cast members Amber Riley, Alex Newell and Dabier Snell. Heather Morris also spoke out about Michele’s disrespectful treatment of the Glee cast and crew, noting that she could not comment on whether Michele’s actions were racist, but agreed that they were inappropriate.

I co-sign on this. Lea Michele is a terrible human and has said terrible things to many different types of people, including racist micoagressions to/about black people.

— Keith Powell (@KeithPowell) June 3, 2020

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 (@jeantegodlock) June 2, 2020

lea michele is not nice. my dad worked crew on that show & she was the first person in line for craft services. she tasted the soup, made a face, spit it back DIRECTLY INTO THE POT & said it was disgusting & walked away while the whole crew was waiting behind her to eat....

— ?✨ (@dearbina) June 3, 2020

Been telling people this for years. I worked with her once. She literally would only speak to me through her assistant. Just not addressing my presence. She was two feet away. Corey was kind and incredibly lovely to work with.

— Angela Sauceda | ☕️?? (@angelasauceda) June 2, 2020

Michele’s Spring Awakening co-star Gerard Canonico and Elizabeth Aldrich, who worked with a 12-year-old Michele on Broadway’s Ragtime, have both shared their negative experiences with the actor.Ware is now opening up about why she decided to share her experience with Michele five years after the pair worked together. Speaking to Variety this week, Ware said that Michele made her disapproval of the Hamilton star clear from the moment she joined the cast in the sixth and final season of Glee.“Lea’s actions were nothing new, so I guess since it was such a common thing, my case didn’t seem like that big of a deal,” Ware told Variety, noting that she did not make a formal complaint about Michele after the response she received from her co-workers when casually mentioning the lead actor’s aggressive behaviour. “I remember the first day I actually spoke up and unfortunately no one did anything. They just shrugged it off, like ‘That’s her.’ No one was stopping these things, which is an issue because the environment was helping perpetuate this abuse.”Ware recalled an event when Michele felt she had been disrespected by her co-star. “She 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,” said Ware, adding that Michele then threatened to call Glee creator Ryan Murphy and have Ware fired. Ware said she spoke privately to Michele about the incident.“When I tried to speak up for myself, she told me to shut my mouth. She said I don’t deserve to have that job,” said Ware. “She talked about how she has reign. And here’s the thing: I completely understood that, and I was ready to be like, ‘This is your show. I’m not here to be disrespectful.’ But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power.”Ware told Variety that she believes people deserve a second chance and doesn’t subscribe to ‘cancel culture,’ but felt that she needed to speak up after seeing Michele’s tweet about George Floyd. “It shouldn’t have to take my tweet. When you tweet, “Black lives matter,” that would mean you have an understanding of what that hashtag means, but it’s clear that it doesn’t,” said Ware.“Does Lea even know what a microaggression is? I don’t know. All that her apology did was affirm that she hasn’t learned anything. Am I calling Lea a racist? No. Does Lea have racist tendencies? I think Lea suffers from a symptom of living in this world in an industry that is tailored to white people.”Riley shared Ware’s interview with Variety, tweeting “@Sammie_Ware you are a superhero, your @Variety article made me feel liberated! I know you’re getting some hate, but you have my support sis.”

✊? https://t.co/VsjdShICx2

— SAMEYAAAAAA (@Sammie_Ware) June 12, 2020

Since Ware’s initial tweet went viral, Michele has issued an apology, writing that she takes responsibility for her actions and vows to be better in the future. In the days following Ware’s initial tweet, Michele lost her sponsorship deal with HelloFresh.[video_embed id='1974580']BEFORE YOU GO: This 10-year-old from Brampton, Ontario is an 'America's Got Talent' finalist[/video_embed]