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During a recent sit-down with Ziwe, Glee star Amber Riley had her feet held to the fire regarding her past claims about Lea Michele not being racist.
The issue first came to public attention back in 2020 after Samantha Marie Ware, a recurring character on the final season of Glee, blasted Lea on social media. Specifically, after Lea posted about #BlackLivesMatter, Samatha accused the actress of orchestrating a series of “traumatic microaggressions” against her during their time on set together, People reports.
Lea went on to apologize and share that her “privilege” may have led her to be “perceived as insensitive.” Additionally, Amber—who starred alongside Lea on all six seasons of the beloved series—spoke out on the matter.
During an Instagram Live chat with Danielle Young, Amber Riley initially shared that she was “proud” of Samantha for “speaking her truth.” However, she went on to clarify that she was “not going to say that Lea Michele is racist.”
“I’m not going to say that Lea Michele is racist. That’s not what I’m saying. That was the assumption because of what’s going on right now in the world and it happened toward a Black person. I’m not going to say that she’s racist.”
Two years after speaking on the matter, Amber was grilled on her comments during her recent appearance on Ziwe’s self-titled show.
The host got things poppin’ by asking if Amber thought Lea, who wasn’t explicitly named, was indeed racist.
“You said one of your famous coworkers wan’t racist. Did you mean that she was?”
In turn, Amber was seemingly caught off guard and at a loss for words.
“Ohh, Ziwe. Umm… next question. I don’t even know how to answer that.”
She also claimed, “I don’t know which coworker you’re talking about. I’ve had so many.”
Humorously, Ziwe rolled with the punches and altered her question to make it more palatable.
“Would you say that your famous coworker doesn’t see race and is in fact rude to all of her coworkers?”
Amber then responded that Lea “would probably say she doesn’t see race.”
“I think that she would probably say she doesn’t see race. But as we discussed earlier, everyone does.”
What are your thoughts on Amber Riley’s comments, and do you believe the speculation surrounding Lea Michele’s character?
