Lea Michele vows to 'be better' after bad behaviour on 'Glee' called out

Lea Michele claims she “doesn’t remember” any racist behaviour on the set of Glee, but she’s still apologizing after former co-stars accused her of fostering a pretty crappy atmosphere on the show’s set. The 33-year-old mom-to-be jumped on Instagram the day after #BlackoutTuesday to address her behaviour and to recognize how it made other people feel, promising to do better in the future.“One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people’s perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices they face,” she wrote. “When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbours and communities of color during this really difficult time, but the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behaviour toward fellow cast members was perceived by them.”Michele is referring to her Tweet on May 29, in which she showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement following George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police. Shortly after the posting, her former Glee co-star, Samantha Marie Ware, retweeted the post and called Michele out for the “traumatic microagressions” which made her time at the show a "living hell," including an incident where Michele reportedly threatened to defecate in Ware's wig. Several of Michele and Ware's other co-stars, including Amber Riley who played Mercedes Jones on the show, showed support for the account of Michele's behaviour.

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

In a second slide of Lea's Instagram statement, the actress continued to address the situation, explaining there was apparently no ill intent on her part, but she apologizes for any behaviour that could have been hurtful.“While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their backgrounds or colour of their skin, that’s not really the point, what matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people,” Michele continued. “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 just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused. We can all grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.”[video_embed id='1968993']RELATED: Don Lemon calls out celebrities for "doing nothing" [/video_embed]Since the story went viral, meal kit delivery service HelloFresh ended its partnership with Michele, condemning her alleged behaviour. “HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind,” the company said on June 2. “We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele. We take this very seriously, and have ended our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately.”Michele played high school student turned Broadway actor Rachel Berry from 2009-2015 on Glee. She was in her early twenties when the series debuted, and during her run on the show there was plenty of backstage drama, including supposed strife with OG cast members Dianna Agron (who played Quinn Fabray) and Naya Rivera (who played Santana Lopez). There were rumours that Rivera had issues with Michele’s “diva antics," writing in her 2016 book, Sorry Not Sorry, "I don’t hate Lea, and I never have. I think Rachel—erm, I mean Lea—didn’t like sharing the spotlight. She had a hard time separating work from our outside friendship, whereas it was a lot easier for me."Michele finished her statement by vowing to do better in the future, especially in light of upcoming motherhood.“I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me,” she wrote. “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.”And that’s what you missed on Glee.[video_embed id='1969730']BEFORE YOU GO: This is what it's like to be black in Canada [/video_embed]