Lea Michele furiously addresses longstanding rumor that she 'cannot read'

Daily Mail​

08-05-2025

Lea Michele is known for many things - her iconic run as Rachel Berry on Glee, her perfect casting as Franny Brice in the Broadway show Funny Girl, and a decade-long rumor that she can't read.
But after commenting on the theory in several different interviews and even making jokes about it in the past, Michele is finally putting the issue to rest (or at least she hopes so).
In an appearance on the Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast, Michele, 38, talked about a range of topics - from her time on Glee to taking a specific yoga class on Wednesday afternoons just because Idina Menzel did.
And in the middle of speaking about her experiences, Michele jumped up and addressed the illiteracy rumors.
'For everyone who thinks I can't f**king read, I was on the debate team,' Michele said to Shane.
'I would like... write speeches.'
When Shane went on to ask Michele if she thought the rumor was funny or if it left her annoyed, she responded, 'It depends on the day.'
'I think it is 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. That's hilarious to me,' she explained.
'Then there are moments where I f**king get so frustrated by it because I'm one of the only women in my whole family to get accepted to college,' she said.
'My mother and my mother's whole family were extremely poor, from the Bronx, not very well educated.
'My parents moved me from the Bronx to New Jersey to get a good education and to thrive and I did.
'My parents and my family are so proud of that.'
Michele continued: 'For someone to minimize that, it's like... so sad and so frustrating.'
The longstanding theory became a trending topic on Twitter back in 2015.
Fans theorized she did not know how to read and, instead, asked people on set to read her the lines to her in order to memorize them.
But the star herself learned about the rumor for the first time from collaborator Ryan Murphy who called her to ask if it was true.
Michele stated her amusement that the rumor was still around to this day before demanding Shane give her the interview cue-cards.
'I'm reading them!' she said.
She then read the card, at one point pausing and then jokingly asking, 'What's that word?' before continuing.
But despite reading it, Michele already knew internet trolls would still have something to say.
'The rumors are going to be like, "Jake called her in advance," "This doesn't prove anything," "she memorized it!"'