Glee actress Lea Michele responds to long-held rumour she can’t read

Scandal-plagued Glee actress Lea Michele has responded to a wild rumour about her life that has been circulating for years.

Actress Lea Michele has suggested that it’s because of her gender that people won’t stop theorising that she can’t read or write.

“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,” the former Glee star told The New York Times in a profile published on Thursday.

Michele, 36, defended herself by pointing out that she showed up to Glee and “knew my lines every single day”.

The Funny Girl star recently joked about the conspiracy theory when speaking to a group of people – including high school students – in June.

“I didn’t go to college you guys, and look at me … There is a rumour online that I cannot read or write, which may have something to do with the fact I didn’t go to college,” the actress quipped in a video obtained by New York Post.

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Lea Michele said if she were a man, the bizarre rumour would not exist. Picture: Getty Images

Michele initially denied the rumours in 2018.

“Loved READING this tweet and wanted to WRITE you back,” Michele wrote on Twitter at the time. “Literally laughing out loud at all this. Love you!”

The conspiracy theory began after podcasters Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman created a viral 40-minute video attempting to prove their thesis that the Broadway star was illiterate.

The lengthy video claims, in part, that because she was a child star on Broadway, she just never had time to learn. The duo also alleged that Michele primarily stars in productions created by Ryan Murphy – such as Glee and Scream Queens – because he knows about the unproven secret.

The rumours first emerged in 2018. Picture: Getty Images

Fans have continued to spread the rumour online and it has gained more traction since she spoke to NYT – even trending on Twitter on Thursday.

“Say what you want about Glee star Lea Michele. She can’t read it,” one user tweeted. “Lea Michele’s failure to actually prove she can read while fighting the rumours with her life is hilarious,” another wrote, with several fans encouraging Michele to read out loud to dispel the theory.

“Lea Michele saying she can read makes me more convinced that she can’t,” another bluntly put it.

Michele also addressed former Glee stars accusing her of bullying them on set.

“I have an edge to me. I work really hard. I leave no room for mistakes,” she said.

“That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism, left me with a lot of blind spots.”

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been reproduced here with permission