Funny, girl: Lea Michele joins TikTok, gets in on the joke about her not being able to read

Lester Fabian Brathwaite
·2 min read
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Funny, girl: Lea Michele joins TikTok, gets in on the joke about her not being able to read
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Lea Michele may be sitting out performances of Funny Girl, but she still wants to be in on the joke.

Michele just joined TikTok and tipped her Fanny Brice hat to the persistent conspiracy theory that the ex-Glee star is illiterate.

Lea Michele/Tik tok. https://www.tiktok.com/@leamichele/video/7144759304476773678?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7144759304476773678&lang=en.
Lea Michele/Tik tok. https://www.tiktok.com/@leamichele/video/7144759304476773678?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7144759304476773678&lang=en.

Lea Michele/Tik Tok Funny, girl: Lea Michele joins TikTok, gets in on the joke about her not being able to read

Michele posted a clip using some old iconic Keeping Up with the Kardashians audio between a tearful Kim Kardashian and Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, "It's amazing but wait, can you talk for a sec?"

Michele then captioned the video, "Calling Jonathan to read me the comments on my first TikTok," referencing fellow Broadway baby and BFF Jonathan Groff.

Now, if you're not thoroughly versed on Lea Michele conspiracy theories — first, what are you doing with your life? — and second, let's explain the origins of all this.

The whole "Lea Michele can't read" thing started in 2017 on the One More Thing podcast, according to the Wikipedia for Unhip Millennials, Know Your Meme:

"During the episode, hosts Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman dissect the late Naya Rivera's memoir, Sorry Not Sorry. In the book, Rivera mentions that during her time on Glee, co-star Lea Michele refused to improvise scenes with veteran actor Tim Conway. The hosts joked that perhaps this was because Lea Michele had director Ryan Murphy feeding her her lines because she couldn't read."

The hosts went on to claim, tongue firmly in cheek, that since Michele's been on the Broadway stage since she was eight, she never quite mastered at least one of the three R's. Though Michele has addressed and denied the rumor often in the past, the internet loves to hold onto a meme, no matter how dated.

So rather than fight it, Michele got in on the LOLs on TikTok — she's certainly got the time for it since bowing out of Funny Girl for 10 days earlier this month due to a positive COVID-19 test. Her respite is nearly up, however, and no doubt audiences are ready to welcome her back after her triumphant debut, which only happened a few days before she had to take a leave.

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