Lea Michele has gleefully proven, once and for all, that she can indeed read, contrary to the “wild” internet conspiracy theory.
The Bronx-born, Jersey-bred Broadway star, 38, shut down the long-held, sometimes “frustrating,” rumor while appearing on the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast on May 7.
“I was a national debater in New Jersey. Like, Bergen County champion debater over here,” said Michele. “We crushed. … I loved the debate team. For everyone who thinks that I can’t f–-ing read, I was on the debate team! I mean, I would write speeches.”
Asked whether she’s entertained by the viral theory or ticked off, the Funny Girl star said “it depends on the day.”
“There are moments where I f—ing get so frustrated by it, because I’m one of the only women in my whole family to get accepted to college,” she said, describing her mother’s upbringing as “extremely poor.”
Michele said her family relocated to the Garden State so she could “get a good education and to thrive.”
She added: “And I did. And my parents and my family are so proud of that. … And so for someone to minimize that, it’s like so sad and so frustrating. But yeah, I don’t know, it’s wild.”
Michele then grabbed Shane’s note cards with listeners’ questions to read them, clarifying she “didn’t memorize it. Jonathan [Groff] is not here to read me this s—.”
Groff, her best friend and former Glee and Spring Awakening costar, also cracked up when he shut down the rumor on an October episode of the Tactful Pettiness podcast.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News (TNS)
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