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Lea Michele’s fake tan at the Tony Awards mocked on Twitter

Glee star Lea Michele has set tongues wagging on social media after fronting up to the Tony Awards with a striking new look that had many fans doing a double take.

Bella Fowler
2 min read
June 14, 2022 - 10:15AM

Lea Michele’s bold look at the Tony Awards has sent the Glee star trending on social media again for all the wrong reasons.

The actress and singer, who performed with her Spring Awakening co-stars at the Radio City Music Hall, New York event over the weekend, appeared onstage with a deep tan that was noticeably darker than her usual skin tone, suggesting she’d slightly overdone it on the fake tan.

A number of fans were baffled over the 35-year-old performer’s look, with one joking that she looked like she was “cosplaying as a Kardashian”.

Another accused the star of “blackfishing” while pointing out past racism claims against her.

“Lea Michele blackfishing after being accused of racism throughout her career is the exact sort of irony I’d expect from her,” they wrote.

Blackfishing refers to white people who use makeup, tanning products, fillers or cosmetic surgery and hairstyles to appropriate Black culture.

The Kardashians and Ariana Grande have also been accused of exploiting Black women’s aesthetics in the past.

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Michele performed during the ceremony with her original Spring Awakening castmates Jonathan Groff and Skylar Astin as part of a 15-year anniversary tribute to the musical.

It comes off the back of the release of a documentary about the Broadway show, Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known, in whichMichele admitted she and her castmate Groff grew so close, she showed him her “whole vagina”.

“At one point, I literally showed him my whole vagina,” she explains in the film, prompting Groff, 37, to add, “I can confirm that.”

Michele goes on, “He was like, ‘I’ve never seen a woman’s vagina before. Would you show me?’ And I was like, ‘Sure.’ And I took a desk lamp … and showed him. That’s how close we are.”

Skylar Astin, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff at the 75th Annual Tony Awards. Picture: Jenny Anderson/Getty Images.
Skylar Astin, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff at the 75th Annual Tony Awards. Picture: Jenny Anderson/Getty Images.

The star’s fake tan wasn’t the only chatter about the star on Twitter during the Tony Awards, with many convinced Michele could be on the brink of a redemption arc after her career took a nosedive in 2020 following multiple claims of bullying on the set of Glee including referring to extras as “cockroaches”, burping in an actor’s face and “microaggressions” towards Black co-stars.

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Some of her Spring Awakening colleagues even chimed in at the time, with singer and dancer Marcus S. Daniel claiming Michele was “abusive, rude, condescending and at many times downright cruel”.

Emma Hutton, another cast member from the musical, also weighed in to savage the star’s Instagram apology, with Broadway understudy Gerard Canonico calling her “nothing but a nightmare” to work with.

Given the ferocity of the social media pile on two years ago, many were surprised to see her performing on stage again.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-style/red-carpet/lea-micheles-fake-tan-at-the-tony-awards-mocked-on-twitter/news-story/94f9a5d5b4dc8de3ea514691d58c02e8