The internet has given us many gifts over the years: the dress that destroyed friendships (itās white and gold, BTW), cringey, yet hilarious Vine compilations, Shrek memes, and you absolutely canāt forget about the viral, yet absolutely unhinged, theory that Lea Michele canāt read. And eight years after the theory first arose, Michele finally shut the rumors down on a recent episode of Jake Shaneās podcast, Therapuss. IDK about yāall, but Iām sat.
On May 7, Lea Michele went on Therapuss and addressed the longtime internet rumors. āFor everyone who thinks that I canāt f*cking read, I was on the debate team, I mean, I would like, write speeches,ā Michele said. āSometimes I think itās crazy that people care enough about me that they would make up something, that someone has so little to do in their life and their day, that they would waste it on me is like, hilarious to me.āĀ
Michele said that, at times, she gets āso frustratedā by the rumors because sheās one of the only women in her whole family to get accepted into college, as well as her family being poor and not very educated. āFor someone to minimize that, itās like, so sad and so frustrating,ā Michele continued. She then went to read Shaneās note cards, proving to internet āsleuthsā that she actually can, in fact, read.Ā
Wait, why do people think that Lea Michele can’t read?
If youāre employed and have no clue what this theory is (and where it comes from), donāt worry ā I got you. Starting in 2017, rumors of Michele being illiterate first arose in an episode of the One More Thing podcast, hosted by Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman. In the episode, the two discussed Naya Riveraās memoir, Sorry Not Sorry, where Rivera mentioned co-star Lea Michele refusing to improvise scenes and allegedly making a ābig dealā out of not wanting to improv. The hosts then joked that Michele didnāt want to improv because Ryan Murphy, Glee director, was reading her lines since she ācouldnāt read.ā
The conspiracy theory gained traction over the years, with social media users finding clips to fuel their theory that Michele couldnāt read. Whether it was not announcing winners at award shows or being seen at book signings with her pen never touching the paper, fans were quick to assume that the actress was illiterate. Fans were so firm on this theory that they were convinced that, when clips of her reading did arise, she was going so far as to memorize the pages.
In 2022, Michele made her debut on TikTok poking fun at the rumors, but never denying them, sending social media users on a deep dive to find out the truth of if she really can read or not.
But even after the episode,Ā fans are still split.
IDK about yāall, but I think itās time we finally put these rumors to rest. Case closed, besties. Time to move on to the next internet theory.