Samantha Ware responds to Lea Michele's casting in Funny Girl revival

Samantha Ware has criticised Lea Michele's casting in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl.

In June 2020, the actress accused Michele of being very rude and behaving with "traumatic microaggressions" on the set of Glee back in late 2014. The 35-year-old apologised and promised to "keep working to better" herself at the time.

On Monday, Ware was quick to express her view when it was announced that Michele would be replacing Beanie Feldstein in the stage musical starting from 6 September.

"Yes, I'm online today. Yes, I see y'all. Yes, I care. Yes, I'm affected. Yes, I'm human. Yes, I'm Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted," she wrote on Twitter, without explicitly referring to Michele. "Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I'm loud. Yes, I'd do it again."

Ware also referred to her former Glee co-stars Amber Riley and Alex Newell in another tweet.

"Also. My name is not Amber Riley or Alex Newell. Their experience was not mine and mines was not theirs (sic)," the 30-year-old added.

Following the news that Michele would take over the lead role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Michele took to social media to describe the gig as a "dream come true".

"A dream come true is an understatement. I'm so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway," she commented on Instagram.

Ware is currently starring in the TV series All Rise.