Lea Michele Finally Addressed The “Sad” Illiteracy Rumors
Well, that puts an end to that.
One of the biggest celebrity rumors to take over the internet these past few years is a theory that Glee star Lea Michele is illiterate. No, I’m not joking. According to i-D, the conspiracy began sometime around 2018 when One More Thing podcasters Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman released a video on Facebook arguing that Michele can’t read. The clip is no longer accessible; however, the theory endures as a meme on TikTok and Twitter, so much so that Michele addressed the rumor in a recent interview with The New York Times.
Michele spoke with the publication ahead of her highly discussed return to Broadway as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. While discussing her often fraught reputation on social media, Michele brought up the illiteracy conspiracy.
“I went to Glee every single day. I knew my lines every single day,” Michele said. “And then there’s a rumor 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.”
In March of this year, a TikTok by user @kelseylikesthings outlining the One More Thing podcasters’ theory went viral. Namely, the TikTok argues that Michele never learned how to read or write because she spent her childhood on Broadway and maintains her acting career by having others read her lines that she then memorizes. The video also theorizes that some of Michele’s assistants could be writing all her social media posts.
Michele has previously weighed in on the rumor. According to Elle Australia, she quote-tweeted a fan in March 2018 and mentioned the theory. “I am pretty certain @LeaMichele is laughing her head off right now - it is weird what people come up with,” the fan reportedly wrote. Michele responded by saying, “Loved READING this tweet and wanted to WRITE you back 😛 Literally laughing out loud at all this 😂 Love you!!! 😘❤️”
Need further proof this theory is debunked? Last month, on Aug. 8, Michele indirectly shut down the conspiracy by reading the children's book Rosie Revere, Engineer in a video for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
Then again, children’s books are typically full of photos...
