By Emma Nolan
Senior Reporter
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Wedding planning website Zola has distanced themselves from their former brand sponsor Lea Michele following race accusations made by her Glee co star Samantha Marie Ware yesterday.
Zola, who Michele partnered with for her wedding to Zandy Reich last year, has said they are "deeply disappointed" in the actress' comments.
A spokesperson for the company told Newsweek: "While our partnership ended with Lea Michele several months ago, we are deeply disappointed by the news concerning her conduct.
Read More
What Lea Michele’s Co-stars Have Said As ‘Glee’ Star Is Accused of Making Show a ‘Living Hell’3 min read
Lea Michele Apologizes After Samantha Marie Ware Says She Made Her Time on ‘Glee’ a ‘Living Hell’4 min read
Samantha Marie Ware Isn’t the First ‘Glee’ Cast Member to Call Out Lea Michele—These Are the Others4 min read
"At Zola, we have firm guidelines for inclusion that we take very seriously. We condemn racism towards the Black community, or any other community, and we have zero tolerance for discrimination."
A post shared by Lea Michele (@leamichele) on Feb 25, 2019 at 11:54am PST
Michele lost out on a sponsorship deal with HelloFresh this week too following the accusations she made Ware's life a "living hell" on set.
The actress faced a major backlash on Twitter yesterday when Ware tweeted about the "traumatic microaggressions" she experienced at the hands of the Rachel Berry actress.
Ware quote tweeted Michele, blasting her for once threatening to "s*** in [her] wig" when she worked on the show.
Ware's tweet seemed to open the floodgates with a number of other Glee alumni tweeting in agreement, with some sharing their own negative experiences with Michele. Amber Riley (who played Mercedes Jones) tweeted a loaded GIF of herself sipping tea and Alex Newell (Unique Adams) tweeted several GIFs too.
The revelation led to Michele being dropped from her sponsorship deal with meal kit brand HelloFresh.
Announcing the termination of Michele's contract on Twitter, the company tweeted: "HelloFresh does not condone racism nor discrimination of any kind. We are disheartened and disappointed to learn of the recent claims concerning Lea Michele. We take this very seriously, and have ended our partnership with Lea Michele, effective immediately."
Michele last posted a sponsored Instagram post for the brand on May 20.
Michele has now issued an apology, posting a lengthy statement to Instagram in which she promised to "be better" but denied judging anyone by race.
"One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people's perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices that they face," Michele, 33, wrote.
A post shared by Lea Michele (@leamichele) on Jun 3, 2020 at 4:03am PDT
She added: "When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time, but the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them.
"While I don't remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that's really not the point, what matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people."
The actress and first time mother to be, went on to question if her "privileged position and perspective" caused her to be "perceived as insensitive or inappropriate." She also wondered if she was just "immature" or "being unnecessarily difficult."
"I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused. We can all grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings," she said.
"I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me."
Michele ended her statement telling fans she is "listening and learning."
...
"I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience."
Michele has posted sponsored Instagram posts with a number of other brands in the past including, The Beachwaver, Botanics USA, Kind Snacks, Fab Fit Fun, Olly Nutrition and most recently, Kevita Drinks.
Kind Snacks informed Newsweek that they do not have an active contract with Michele. It is unclear whether Michele's contracts with the other brands are still active.
The Beachwaver, Botanics USA, Fab Fit Fun, Zola, Olly Nutrition and, Kevita Drinks have yet to respond to Newsweek's queries.
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