Former Glee star Sammie Ware has called out Broadway for casting Lea Michele as the new lead in Funny Girl.
Beanie Feldstein announced she would be leaving the Broadway production on Sep. 6. The team announced on Tuesday Michele would replace her as the iconic Fanny Brice.
Ware said in a tweet after the announcement that the news about Michele’s new role triggered her. It reminded her that Broadway and Hollywood uphold whiteness and continue to hire people who have harmed BIPOC communities.
“Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, I’m affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again.”
Folks on Twitter also disagreed with Michele’s casting, with several making viral memes. One claimed the Scream Queens star “made a deal with the Devil” to get the part. Another appeared to suggest she’d create as toxic of a work environment as Glee allegedly was.
Ware played Jane Hayward in the sixth season of Glee in 2015. She claimed to Variety back in 2020 Michele made a series of micro-aggressions toward her when she was on set. She further alleged Michelle told people on set she would “s**t in [her] wig”.
She described Michele as acting weirdly passive-aggressive, making comments under her breath, and giving her silent treatment after her first performance on the show. Actor Dabier Snell claimed in the same Variety report she “wouldn’t let him sit at a table with her” because he only played a guest role on the show in 2014.
Another child actress who worked with the Glee actress in the 1990s claimed she “demeaned the crew and threatened to have people fired if she was in any way displeased” when she was only 12.
Michele has not commented on the reaction towards her casting. But she did say in a post announcing the news on her Instagram it was an understatement to call the role a “dream come true”.