'Glee' star Lea Michele has lost her sponsorship deal with a commercial partner after a former castmate accused her of making her experience on set a traumatic "living hell."
HelloFresh announced on Tuesday night that it was cutting ties with the 33-year-old Emmy nominee amid massive backlash on social media. The company tweeted that it did not "condone racism nor discrimination of any kind" and that it was "disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims" against Michele.
"We take this very seriously, and have ended our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately," HelloFresh added.
The ordeal began when Samantha Marie Ware called out Michele after she tweeted about the killing of George Floyd, which she said was "not an isolated incident" and which "must end."
Responding to Michele's tweet, Ware asked if she remembered taunting her during production on the series in 2015.
"LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET," Ware wrote. "I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD "S--T IN MY WIG!" AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD..."
Michele followed up with an apology on Wednesday after the tweet went viral.
"The responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them," Michele wrote in a statement shared to Instagram on Wednesday.
"I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience," she continued. "The responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them," Michele continued in her statement, adding that she had no recollection of "ever making this specific statement" and would not judge others "by their background or color of their skin."
"That’s not really the point," she wrote. "What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people. Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect my own shortcomings."