Lea Michele Poked Fun At Those Illiteracy Rumors With This TikTok Video
She called in her BFF.
Lea Michele is in on the joke. The Funny Girl star responded (again) to the internet theory that she’s illiterate. This time, though, her reaction was more tongue-in-cheek and came by way of a TikTok video. It’s a stark contrast to her previous thoughts on the rumors.
In the TikTok video posted on Sept. 18, Michele lip-synced to a viral audio clip from The Kardashians. When asked “How is it?” by the person on the other line of a phone call, she lip-syncs to Kim Kardashian saying, “It’s amazing, but, wait, can you talk for a sec?”
The best part is the text on the video that reads: “Calling Jonathan [Groff] to read me the comments on my first TikTok.” Groff, who starred in Mindhunter, is Michele’s longtime BFF. She captioned the video, “lol” with a variety of reaction emojis.
This response to the theory is tonally different than the one she gave to The New York Times earlier this month. “...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,” she said.
The theory, which has turned into a meme, began sometime around 2018 when hosts of the podcast One More Thing released a video making the case that Michele couldn’t read.
Michele first addressed the rumor in 2018 on Twitter. In response to a fan’s tweet about the theory, Michele responded, “Loved READING this tweet and wanted to WRITE you back. Literally laughing out loud at all this. Love you!!” Michele’s tweet was reportedly deleted soon after.
The Glee alum, who is currently starring in the revival of Funny Girl on Broadway, appears to be taking up TikTok while recovering from COVID-19. She also posted her first video on the app on Sept. 17. In it, she dueted — choreography and all — a fan who’d imitated Michele performing “Don’t Rain On My Parade” on the opening night of Funny Girl.
On Sept. 6, days after her debut as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Michele announced on Instagram that she had “early signs” of COVID-19 and would be missing her scheduled performances. She is expected to be returning to Funny Girl on Sept. 20.
