Lea Michele breaks silence on 'Glee' fallout: 'I just completely broke'

Lea Michele is opening up about the pain behind the scenes of Glee.

Appearing on the May 8th episode of Therapuss podcast with Jake Shane, Michele, 38, admitted her relationship with the cast became “fractured” following the 2013 death of boyfriend and co-star Cory Monteith.

When asked if the tragedy brought the cast closer, she replied with a blunt “no.”

“For me, it was so hard. I just completely broke,” she said. “I was really in a one-track mind of just doing my job.”

Monteith, who portrayed Finn Hudson for four seasons, died at 31 from a heroin overdose while the show was still airing. Michele, who had been dating Monteith for a year at the time of his death, reflected that “it was way too much to try to process at a young age.”

Although she felt supported by the crew members, Michele recalled the pressure of working through her grief. “If we didn’t show up for work, then people wouldn’t have work to go to. I had to put my stuff aside and show up,” she shared.

Michele’s somber recollection comes years after Glee cast members accused her of mean-girl behavior. In 2020, Samantha Ware said Michele made the set a “living hell,” with other stars echoing those claims. 

Michele apologised in a lengthy statement at the time.