Glee has enough behind-the-scenes controversy to merit a newly announced Investigation Discovery show. Somehow almost a decade since the show’s finale, there are still headlines to be made. With Lea Michele doing a full Pleasantville and assuming the life of Rachel Berry on Broadway in Funny Girl, the recovering gleeks want to know: Which of Michele’s co-stars will see her become the Greatest Star? And which are keeping their distance?
Here’s what you missed on Glee: In 2020, Glee season-six star Samantha Marie Ware called out Michele for her hypocrisy posting a tweet in support of Black Lives Matter. “LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISION GIG A LIVING HELL?!?!†Ware tweeted, alleging that Michele enacted “traumatic microaggressions†against Ware — including threatening to shit in Ware’s wig. From there, other Glee cast members spoke out about their experiences with Michele and time on the show. Michele issued an apology, and has made a major through-line of her Funny Girl press how much she has grown since her Glee days. Some Glee cast members are ready to celebrate Michele, others … not so much.
Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel, seasons 1-6)
On Michelle Collins’s SiriusXM radio show, Colfer said that he would not accompany Collins to see the show. “Oh no, are you seeing Funny Girl?†he said. “Oh … my day suddenly just got so full.†Colfer said he’d wait to be “triggered at home.â€
Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson, seasons 2-6)
Colfer’s onscreen hubby did make the trek to see Funny Girl. Michele posted a pic on Instagram of Criss and his wife, Mia, backstage at the show. “The amount of times this guy has heard me sing Don’t Rain On My Parade 😂,†she captioned it.
Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang, seasons 1-6)
Tina is a maybe! “If I’m in New York, I will go see it,†she told Entertainment Weekly after exiting RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race. “Broadway is home for me, and I’m sad that I missed Jane.†Ushkowitz was referring to Jane Lynch, who left the show before a mini Glee reunion could be staged. When asked if she had reached out to Michele, maybe given her former colleague a li’l “break a leg,†Ushkowitz said “I have not. I will leave it at that.â€
Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams, seasons 1-6)
While making his departure from RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race, Ushkowitz’s And That’s What You Really Missed podcast co-host Kevin McHale said he “hadn’t really thought about†seeing Funny Girl, but he wasn’t entirely ruling it out. “We haven’t talked in quite a while,†he said. “Jenna and I talk every day, but I haven’t spoken to her in a long time. So I haven’t talked to her about Funny Girl.â€
Samantha Marie Ware (Jane Hayward, season 6)
On the day Michele’s casting was announced, Ware tweeted “Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, im 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.â€
Becca Tobin (Kitty Wilde, seasons 4-6)
The actress who played Quinn Fabray’s Mini-Me in the back half of Glee visited Michele backstage. Michele and Tobin exchanged heart emoji on Instagram in celebration of the reunion. Also notable? Tobin has the enviable @becca IG handle.
Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James, recurring)
C’mon. Babe was there opening night. He’s seen her pussy, do you think he’d miss her Fanny?