A few days back, Glee actress Samantha Marie Ware blasted her former costar Lea Michele for allegedly making her time on the show “a living hell” and subjecting her to “traumatic microaggressions” on set.
Ware responded to a tweet from Michele, who had posted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd.
“George Floyd did not deserve this,” Michele wrote over the weekend. “This was not an isolated incident and it must end.” She concluded her tweet with #BlackLivesMatter.
Quoting Michele’s tweet, Ware claimed Michele once told everyone on set that she would “shit in [her] wig” if given the chance.
In all caps, Ware tweeted: “Lmao, remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I’ll never forget. I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘shit in my wig!’ Amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood.”
https://twitter.com/Sammie_Ware/status/1267632171570745345
Now, the actress has written a lengthy apology on Instagram, where she explains that her initial tweet was meant to be a “show of support for our friends and neighbours and communities of colour during this really difficult time,” but the responses made her focus on her own behaviour.
“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 that they face,” she wrote.
After adding that she didn’t remember the specific actions Ware had referenced and that she’s “never judged others by their background or the color of their skin,” she acknowledged, “that’s not really the point, what matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people.”
“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 apologise for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused,” she continued. “We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.”
Michele, who’s expecting her first child, went on to address how becoming a mother soon has impacted her reflection.
“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 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.”
