'Glee' Star Samantha Ware Speaks Out on Lea Michele Controversy, Takes Issue with Apology

"Glee" star Samantha Ware is formally responding to the Lea Michele controversy and her apology after she called out her former coworker on Twitter earlier this month.

In an interview with Variety, Ware reflected on her time working with Michele on the Fox musical-comedy and also took issue with Michele's apology, which came a few days after Ware responded to her Black Lives Matter tweet, writing that Michele made their time together "a living hell" and "made me question a career in Hollywood."

Variety reports that Michele tried to get in contact with Ware through a mutual connection but Ware declined to give her former coworker her personal info. She "instead [asked] her to contact her representatives, who received a personal email from Michele on Jun. 3 with an apology letter."

Michele also apologized on June 3 via social media. Her note came after Hello Fresh dropped her as a sponsor.

"All that her apology did was affirm that she hasn't learned anything. Am I calling Lea a racist? No," Ware told Variety. "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."

Ware, who joined "Glee" in its sixth season, discussed Michele's alleged behavior after her first performance on the show.

"As soon as she decided that she didn't like me, it was very evident," she said. "It was after I did my first performance, that's when it started – the silent treatment, the stare-downs, the looks, the comments under her breath, the weird passive-aggressiveness. It all built up."

She said on another occasion, Michele threatened her job in front of a large crowd of extras, dancers, and the cast of "Glee." Ware went on to say that she didn't officially report Michele's alleged behavior to officials because she never considered it or knew that issuing a complaint was an option. Still, she said everyone on set was aware of Michele and her alleged actions.

"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. "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," she added.

Elsewhere in the interview, Ware said Michele threatened to fire her for "goofing around when the camera wasn't on me," adding that she believes Michele "took that as me being disrespectful to her." She said no one had an issue with her so she was shocked when Michele called her out and reprimanded her.

"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," Ware said, adding that Michele told her, "You need to come here right now," Ware said she politely refused to walk towards her in the center of the stage because of the previous incident.

"I said 'no,' and that's when she decided to threaten my job and said she would call Ryan Murphy in to come and fire me," Ware said.

Murphy co-created "Glee" and has not spoken out about the Michele controversy. Some of actors from the TV show, as well as other performers Michele has worked with, have shared their past experiences and feelings towards the actor. Ware said she believes Murphy was never made aware of the incident and thinks Michele used his name to scare her. Sources close to the production of "Glee" told Variety that by the sixth and final season, Murphy wasn't a showrunner and wasn't actively involved with the program.

"It's scary. For the full week, I was thinking I'm probably going to get an email and I might not be able to do the last three episodes, or I might not be able to sing another song," Ware said.

She said she "tried to speak up for myself" by talking to Michele one-on-one but claims she told Ware "to shut my mouth."

"She said I don't deserve to have that job. She talked about how she has reigned. 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," Ware said. "But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power."

Ware also elaborated on her initial tweet when she claimed that Michele threatened to "shit in my wig." Ware said she allegedly made that remark at an intimate cast screening during a lunch break on set.

"She had an issue because I had laughed [when watching a scene] and that's when the 'I'm going to shit in your wig' comment happened," Ware told Variety. She said that Michele made the comment loudly that others could hear.

"Some chuckled and some gasped. It was mortifying. The whole point was for her to embarrass me. People heard her, but no one was going to stand up to her," she added.

Ware went on to say she doesn't support "cancel culture" and that people should be given a second chance. Nevertheless, Ware said she could not say anything when she saw Michele's Black Lives Matter tweet.

"You can put color in the room, but if you don't let them talk or speak or share their side, we're not getting anywhere," Ware told Variety. "There are such imbalances of power and structures that have been fully embedded for years that just need to crumble at this point. Everyone needs to feel heard and be validated."

She also reflected on her initial tweet that went viral.

"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," Ware said. "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," she said.

Click here to read Ware's full interview with Variety.