Glee star Amber Riley talks Lea Michele's alleged racism on Ziwe

A new season of Ziwe has arrived, and with it, more of the most uncomfortable interviews you’ll ever see. In this week’s episode, onetime Glee cast member Amber Riley sits down with Ziwe Fumudoh on the comedian’s eponymous show, and naturally, the conversation veers towards her former co-star Lea Michele’s alleged racist bullying.

Back in 2020, Samantha Marie Ware, who appeared on 11 episodes of the teen musical, tweeted that Michele “made [her] first television gig a living hell” and perpetrated numerous “traumatic microagressions that made [her] question a career in Hollywood.” After losing a brand partnership with HelloFresh, the actor responded with a Notes app apology, because apparently that’s what celebrities do.

“You said that one of your famous coworkers wasn’t racist. Did you mean that she was?” Ziwe asks, referring to one of Riley’s past interviews.

“I don’t know which coworker you’re talking about, I had so many,” Riley responds–with a wink. (Because this is Ziwe, she is visibly stressed and tries to dodge the question at first.)

The controversy recently resurfaced after Michele landed one of Broadway’s most coveted roles as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. Her casting coincided with fellow Glee alum Jane Lynch departing the show, stoking speculation that there was lingering bad blood between the former co-stars.

“Would you say that your famous coworker doesn’t see race and is in fact rude to all of her coworkers?” Ziwe continues.

“I think that she would probably say she doesn’t see race, but as we discussed earlier, everyone does,” Riley says.

Elsewhere in the clip, the recent Dancing With The Stars winner does not seem to look back on her Glee experience with particular fondness.

“We have diversity training on our show,” Ziwe tells her.

“I wish our show had that,” Riley laughs. “We did not.”

Ziwe is now airing on Showtime.