Samantha Ware, Lea Michele, and Beanie Feldman Shutterstock (3)
Speak up Sammie WareAfter learning that, Broadway was slammed Lea MicheleIt would be replaced Beanie FeldsteinIn Funny Girl following the actress’ alleged negative actions on Glee set.
“Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care,” the 30-year-old star tweeted on Monday, July 11. “Yes, I’m affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted.”
Ware concluded: “Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the exact same. Yes, silence can be complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again.”
The Nebraska native’s remarks come hours after Feldstein, 29, announced her early departure from Funny GirlAfter taking on the role of Fanny Brice as the leader in April.
“Playing Fanny Brice on Broadway has been a lifelong dream of mine and doing so for the last few months has been a great joy and true honor,” the BooksmartStar wrote via Instagram on July 10, 2018. “Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated.”
Feldstein, who walked in the iconic shoes of Barbra StreisandThe original 1964 role was hers, and she was originally set to retire in September. She will now be leaving the show on July 31. Julie BenkoWill fill in for the August shows before Michele, 35 takes over on September 6.
The Spring Awakening alum called the news a “dream come true” on Monday. Michele continued: “I’m so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway. See you September 6th. @funnygirlbwy #FUNNYGIRL.”
Michele’s casting made headlines more than two years after she turned heads for her alleged poor treatment of many actors on the set of GleeWare was one of them. The All Rise star claimed in June 2020 that the Emmy nominee made her time on the Fox series “a living hell” after Michele tweeted about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Ware described her alleged experience to Variety at the time, claiming that she was once scolded by Michele after she appeared to be “disrespectful” to the actress when she was “goofing around” off camera. (Michele portrayed Rachel Berry for six seasons. GleeWare portrayed Jane Hayward in 11 episodes in 2015,
“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,” the What/IfThe interview was filled with explanations from the alum. Michele threatened her job when Ware refused to meet her.
Ware alleged that Michele said she would “s—t in my wig” and made other “traumatic microaggressions” toward her that made her “question a career in Hollywood.” The claims resulted in HelloFresh ending their partnership with the New York native in June 2020.
The former Scream QueensStar, for her part publicly apologized to Ware and other costars for making them feel in the past.
“What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people,” Michele wrote via an Instagram statement, noting that her Black Lives Matter message was only meant to “show of support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time.”
