Glee spin-off stars allege "trauma" from show
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Glee, during the height of its popularity, had a reality TV show spin-off called The Glee Project, in which hopefuls competed to have the creators write a role for them in the main show.
Ten years on, three contestants who took part in the show have talked about their negative experiences from their time in the competition, alleging that they were put in situations that made them uncomfortable.
In a lengthy piece for Insider which featured interviews with seven cast members, three of them detailed apparent incidents of manipulation and trauma.
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Season 1 runner-up Lindsay Pearce, who eventually played Harmony in Glee, said that she made a serious personal confession which didn't feature in the edit but the cut does show her "saying people like me because I'm pretty, which makes me feel fake".
"That was gut-wrenching," she admitted, "'cause I wouldn't have shared my experience if I knew how it'd be edited."
Furthermore, she alleged there was an incident during a music video shoot where the director asked her to kiss fellow contestant Cameron Mitchell out of the blue in the next take.
"The minute I pulled away and saw Cameron's face, I realised I'd been played..." she said. "I wish I had the language that we have today surrounding consent and awareness and respecting people's boundaries.
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"I will always take accountability for my own side of things, but I was 19 and being manipulated... It was abuse, whether they thought it was or wasn't. They made a successful reality television show, but the cost was high for some of us."
Cameron himself added that he "made it clear to everybody that it wasn't cool and that I had a girlfriend back home. I felt blindsided because no one asked me about it.
"That's where the strings of producers started to twist. They were like, 'Oh, that's a hot topic for Cameron. How can we push his buttons even more?' It was very traumatic."
Season 2 contestant Abraham Lim echoed this sentiment, saying: "There were so many great elements of the show, but it was also really anxiety-inducing and there was a lot of trauma."
Focusing on one moment that he found uncomfortable where he was asked about his identity, Lim explained: "When it came to androgyny, it was like, 'Oh, what's the big deal? Why won't he just claim it?' You have to remember, I didn't grow up with a Modern Family or Will and Grace. I was hurled a lot of criticism from people watching the show back in the day."
Oxygen, the US network that aired the show, and Glee creator Ryan Murphy declined to add comment to the original publication. Digital Spy has reached out to production company Embassy Row.
Glee is available to stream via Disney+ in the UK.
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