Lea Michele says internet joke that she’s illiterate is ‘sad’: ‘If I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case’

Lea Michele has addressed the online joke that she’s illiterate, calling it “sad”.

In 2017, the One More Thing podcast theorised that the Glee star couldn’t read or write because her early years as a childhood performer left little time for her to learn.

A year later, the rumour reemerged, drawing Michele’s attention. At the time, she shut down the rumours lightheartedly with a tweet, saying: “Loved READING this tweet and wanted to WRITE you back. Literally laughing out loud at all this love you!!!”

Now, with the recent announcement that the 36-year-old actor would be taking over the lead role of Fanny Brice on Broadway’s Funny Girl, the rumour has once again resurfaced.

While Michele had seemingly laughed off the joke before, she recently appears to have taken a different tone.

“I went to Glee every single day; I knew my lines every single day,” she told The New York Times in a new interview. “And then there’s a rumour online that I can’t read or write? It’s sad. It really is.”

“I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case,” Michele added.

Elsewhere in the interview, the actor addressed the 2020 drama that ensued after former Glee co-star, Samantha Marie Ware, accused Michele of making her life a “living hell” due to “traumatic microaggressions” on the set of the show.

Michele has since apologised for her actions.

“I have an edge to me. I work really hard. I leave no room for mistakes,” she explained. “That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism, left me with a lot of blind spots.”

“I really understand the importance and value now of being a leader,” Michele added. “It means not only going and doing a good job when the camera’s rolling, but also when it’s not. And that wasn’t always the most important thing for me.”