Many celebrities in the US have posted their support for the Black Lives Matter movement in their respective social media profiles lately.
While well meaning, some of these celebrities and even influencers are said to be supporting the cause just out of performative activism, commonly known as slacktivism.
Performative activism or slacktivism refers to activism done to increase one’s popularity or to avoid backlash for not speaking up rather than genuine care.
Actress Lea Michelle, who played protagonist Rachel Berry in the television show Glee, is one of the perfect examples of performative activism.
Lea Michelle took to Twitter and typed out a supportive message which read, “George Floyd did not deserve this. This was not an isolated incident and it must end. #BlackLivesMatter.”
No one thought more about it until another fellow Glee actress Samantha Marie Ware called out her former co-star.
“LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD “SHIT IN MY WIG!” AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD,” Ware tweeted in reply.
Ware played the character named Jane Hayward who joined the group New Directions which was led by Rachel Berry in the show. According to Ware, Lea Michele has threatened her with microaggressive acts on the set of Glee.
Her retort to Lea Michele’s tweet blew up and attained nearly 445k likes and counting. Fans and celebrities such as Alex Newell (who played Wade ‘Unique’ Adams in Glee), Amber Riley (who played Mercedes Jones in Glee) and Yvette Nicole Brown expressed support.
Yvette Nicole Brown, who has appeared in television shows such as Community, wrote “I felt every one of those capital letters.”
Alex Newell commented on the Twitter thread with a gif that read, “Get her” and also wrote a response to Brown’s tweet with “Felt like claps!!”
Amber Riley just posted three gifs, one of which featured herself sipping tea.
This blow up just showed everyone that the fellow Glee co-star Naya Rivera (who played Santana Lopez) was right all along. Sadly, we gave her so much heat the last time she spoke up about working on the set of the show.
One of the fans of the show tweeted what the fandom feels right now: “Is someone in the cast of glee not problematic? What the hell”
