Before she returned to Broadway for Funny Girl, Lea was at the center of controversy regarding her alleged behavior on Glee. In 2020, several of her former Glee castmates — including Samantha Ware — accused Lea of cruel and diva-like behavior on-set. Alex, who played Unique Adams on the Fox series, chimed in on the allegations against Lea at the time, by directly responding to Samantha’s tweet with a gif saying “Get her.” Alex shared another tweet about Samantha’s claims against Lea where they wrote, “I’m gonna say this one time when my friends goes through something traumatic I also go through it that’s what friendship is.”
Lea apologized for her alleged behavior and stayed out of the spotlight for a while, until she landed Funny Girl. In February, Lea opened up about the Glee controversy with Interview Magazine, and revealed that she had some “healing” conversations with former cast mates after the accusations came out. “I did a lot of personal reach-outs,” the mom-of-one said. “The most important thing was for everybody to just take a step back.
A second wrote: “Something so poetic about Alex Newell winning a Tony in front of Lea Michele.”
“I don’t know but having Lea Michele perform Don’t Rain On My Parade in the Tony Awards – the role Rachel Berry was obsessed with – while not being eligible for a nomination and having her black Glee co-star Alex Newell win a Tony in front of her is ironic,” a third noted.
A fourth similarly wrote: “For those of you who don’t know the glee cinematic universe: yesterdays cultural significance can never be repeated. Lea Michele singing don’t rain on my parade in a year she’s ineligible for nomination while having to watch former Glee cast member Alex Newell win is insane.”
A fifth noted: “Lea Michele not being nominated and Alex Newell winning tonight is Glee racial justice.”
“Tony Winner Alex Newell is in the same room as replacement Fanny Brice not Tony winner Lea Michele,” a sixth shaded.
Another tweeted: “Alex Newell won a Tony while racist transphobic Lea Michele was in the room and Alex walked past her. YAY A BIG WIN.”
While Lea has made a big return to Broadway since appearing in the fictional FOX series, the 2020 accusations have resulted in some people not supporting the actress’ success.
“Mommy, I love you. Thank you for believing in me, thank you for loving me unconditionally, thank you for teaching me what strength is,” Newell said as they accepted the award.
Both Michele and Newell can be seen in costume for their respective Broadway shows. Newell, 30, who identifies both as nonbinary and gender fluid, won the prize for their show-stopping performance in Shucked. They appeared in character as Lulu during the production’s medley of songs performed during the Tonys ceremony.
Michele, 36, was on hand to perform as Fanny Brice from her still-running revival of Funny Girl. The production, originally starring Beanie Feldstein in the role, launched on Broadway in April 2022 and was eligible for last year’s Tonys (earning one nomination).
Michele’s performance at Sunday’s ceremony isn’t the first time she has sung “Don’t Rain on My Parade” at the Tonys.
Back in 2012, while she was still starring as Rachel Berry on Glee, the actress performed the song during the broadcast, after which she was embraced by her Glee costar and fellow Broadway performer Matthew Morrison before they bowed to the applauding crowd.
Like Michele in real life, her Glee character Rachel is a big fan of Streisand, 81, and even performs “Don’t Rain on My Parade” during a season 1 episode of the musical teen-dramedy series, which ran from 2009 to 2015.
As fans of Glee well know, after her character, Rachel Berry, belted the tune in season one of the Ryan Murphy-created comedy, Michele was invited to perform the show’s rendition at the 2010 Tony Awards.
Of course, Michele wasn’t the only Glee alum to garner praise at the 2023 awards show. Alex Newell, who played Unique Adams between 2012 and 2015 on the musical series, made history as the first out nonbinary performer to win a Tony.
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