Former Elle Magazine editor Justine Cullen recalls working with Lea Michele

Former Elle Magazine editor Justine Cullen described a violent on-set outburst from the Glee star, who she labelled “unpleasant”.

Former editor-in-chief at Elle Magazine Justine Cullen has claimed Lea Michele “kicked a shoe” at a colleague during a photo shoot.

Michele has long been at the centre of bullying accusations, with a number of former co-stars opening up about her shocking behaviour on the set of Glee.

In her memoir, SEMI-GLOSS: Magazines, motherhood and misadventures in having it all, Cullen provided her own Michele horror story.

RELATED: Star slams ‘despicable’ Lea Michele

Cullen claims Michele ‘kicked a shoe’ at a fashion director. Picture: Getty Images.

Cullen opened up about the experience in her memoir. Picture: Christian Gilles

Recalling what it was like working with international stars for the magazine’s cover shoots, she described most as “unfailingly professional”, adding that it was working with the “next tier down” where on-set difficulty often arose.

“It’s the next tier down who always surprise you, like Lea Michele from Glee, who – in just one of many on-set ‘moments’ – kicked a shoe at my fashion director and made her cry. She was … unpleasant,” Cullen wrote.

RELATED: Painful Lea Michele interview resurfaces

A number of Michele’s former colleagues have spoken out about the star’s behaviour. Picture: Getty Images for Netflix.

Last year, Michele was accused of racism by former co-star Samantha Ware, who played Jane Hayward on the hit musical series Glee for its sixth season in 2015.

As posts supporting the Black Lives Matter campaign flooded social media following George Floyd’s death in police custody, Ware responded to a tweet Michele shared endorsing the movement, claiming the actor made her time on the show a “living hell”.

“George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter,” Michele had shared.

In an all-caps response to Michele’s post, Ware wrote that she would “never forget” the “traumatic microagressions” she claims to have received from the star – including a shocking allegation that she had “told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘sh*t in my wig’.”

Ware said Michele made her time on the show a ‘living hell’. Picture: Getty Images.

A number of former co-stars piled on Michele last year in response to Ware’s comment. Picture: Getty Images.

A number of other Glee stars publicly backed Ware’s allegations.

Heather Morris, who played Brittany S. Pierce on the series, also described Michele as “very unpleasant” to work with.

Chase Edmondson, who worked in production for seasons three and four, shared his own story of an encounter with the star.

“My strongest memory of you was storming out of the Glee classroom set yelling, ‘Does anyone have gum?’” he replied in the comments section of her apology.

“I was standing about 10 feet from you with gum already in hand. When I said ‘I do’, offering it to you, you just looked at me and said ‘Ew’ before walking off to crafty on the next stage.

“Hopefully you’ve grown as a person and treat people better on sets.”

And actress Imia Edwards, who appeared in season six, claimed Michele made background performers on set feel as though they were “nothing” and referred to them as “cockroaches”.

She went on to detail shooting a particular scene, claiming that between sets, Michele’s behaviour was astonishing.

“She walked by me and burped in my face, this loud burp, directly almost face-to-face, it wasn’t even like, ‘Oh she wouldn’t have known.’ She knew she burped in my face.”

The late Naya Rivera in a scene from Glee with Michele. Picture: Getty Images.

Her alleged mistreatment of colleagues is claimed to have continued far beyond the Glee set.

Craig Ramsay, who, starred alongside Michele in Fiddler On The Roof on Broadway in the early 2000s, described her as a “despicable, horrible human being”.

Actor, singer and dancer Marcus S. Daniel also claimed Michele was “abusive, rude, condescending and at many times downright cruel” in the “many times” they’d worked together over the years.

And 30 Rock actor Keith Powell wrote: “Lea Michele is a terrible human and has said terrible things to many different types of people, including racist microagressions to/about black people.”

In response to the many claims, Michele released an apology on Instagram.

The three-page statement claimed that while she doesn’t “remember” the specific behaviour she’d been accused of, she had “clearly acted in ways which hurt other people”.

“Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times, or whether it was just my immaturity and me being unnecessarily difficult, I apologise for my behaviour,” Michele wrote.

The star, who played Rachel Berry on all six seasons of Glee, welcomed her first baby with husband Zandy Reich in August last year.