Glee's Lea Michele Pokes Fun at Rumor That She Doesn't Know How to Read

Former Glee star Lea Michele is poking fun at the rumor that she does not know how to read or write. In a recent post on her TikTok account, Michele joked that she has "265 Days to Learn to READ!!!", in reference to the number of days until actress Barbara Streisand releases her memoir. The video was accompanied by a screenshot of a headline announcing the biography, an upcoming 1,000+-page memoir titled My Name is Barbra, which will be released on November 7th.

This is the latest instance of Michele making light of the rumors surrounding her illiteracy, after previously posting a TikTok jokingly calling her friend and former Glee-costar, Jonathan Groff, asking him to read aloud the comments on her first video.

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Does Lea Michele know how to read?

The rumor surrounding Michele's reading abilities first stemmed from Sorry Not Sorry, the memoir of her late Glee co-star, Naya Rivera, who recounted a story of the actress refusing to improvise a scene while on the set. It was subsequently popularized by the podcast One More Thing in 2017, with the hosts creating a viral presentation arguing that Michele might memorize her lines after having them read aloud to her, and that she had not been shown reading or clearly writing in public, and possibly had not prioritized the skills during her tenure as a child actor. In an interview with The New York Times in September of 2022, Michele did not actually confirm or deny the accusations, but she called the rumor "sad," and argued that a male actor would not be given a similar treatment.

"I went to Glee every single day; I knew my lines every single day," Michele said at the time. "And then there's a rumor online that I can't read or write? It's sad. It really is. I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn't be the case."

In the same interview, she also touched on accusations that she bullied her co-stars on the set of Glee, including Samantha Marie Ware, who alleged that Michele threatened to have her fired to the show, and also made multiple "traumatic microaggressions", including threatening to "sh-t in her wig." The claims were then supported by fellow star Heather Morris, who said that Michele "should be called out" for her behavior.

"I have an edge to me. I work really hard. I leave no room for mistakes," Michele said in the interview. "That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism, left me with a lot of blind spots... I really understand the importance and value now of being a leader. It means not only going and doing a good job when the camera's rolling, but also when it's not. And that wasn't always the most important thing for me."

What do you think of Lea Michele acknowledging the rumors that she can't read or write? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!