Samantha Ware Says Lea Michele Threatened To Get Her Fired From Glee

Samantha Ware says Lea Michele went as far to threaten her job during their time as co-stars on Glee. 

In a new interview with Variety, the actress details Michele's alleged behavior toward her and others working on the set of the musical TV series. Earlier this month, Ware publicly accused Michele of making her experience on Glee a "living hell". After numerous other castmates came forward  with their own accounts accusing Michele of mistreatment, she issued a public apology.

"I knew from day one when I attempted to introduce myself," Ware recalled of her first impression of Michele. "There was nothing gradual about it. As soon as she decided that she didn't like me, it was very evident. 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."

Ware, who appeared on the sixth season of Glee as a recurring guest character, described one incident in which Michele reprimanded her in front of the cast, extras and crew. 

"When you're shooting a scene, sometimes the camera is on you and sometimes it's not, but you still have to be in the scene," Ware explained. "The camera wasn't on us, so it's not like we had to give a full throttle performance, but apparently, I was goofing around when the camera wasn't on me, and she took that as me being disrespectful to her."

Ware continued, "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." 

When Ware declined Michele's request, she told Variety, "...that's when she decided to threaten my job, and said she would call [series creator] Ryan  Murphy in to come and fire me."

Describing the alleged confrontation as "scary," Ware then said Michele's demeanor escalated during a private conversation.

"When I tried to speak up for myself, she told me to shut my mouth. She said I don't deserve to have that job," Ware claimed. "She talked about how she has reign. 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.' But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power."

According to Ware, she never formally filed a complaint against Michele with the network or studio, noting to Variety that the star's alleged actions were "nothing new."