Original Glee cast member Kevin McHale is singing no praises about anupcoming new docuseries about the show.
The Price of Glee , set to premiere Jan. 16 on Investigation Discovery andDiscovery+, focuses on the legacy and controversies surrounding the Foxmusical comedy, as well as the deaths of cast members **Cory Monteith ,**Naya Rivera and Mark Saling. According to deadline key cast andcrew members share on the docuseries first-hand stories of their time on_Glee_.
“Show me this ‘cast’ you speak of,” McHale, who played Artie Abrams on theshow, tweeted Dec.9. “This is [wastebasket emoji].”
The actorsadded“This was thenice version, ftr. Don’t make me speak on this again.”
E! News has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for comment about McHale’sremarks and has not heard back.
Jenna Ushkowitz who played Artie’s love interest Tina Cohen-Chang on_Glee_ ,responded toMcHale’s last tweet with a grimacing face emoji.
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The two co-host the Glee rewatch podcast ___And That ‘s What You ReallyMissed_. In November, the actors briefly touched upon the new docuseries in aninterview with BuzzFeed.
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“In terms of the Discovery+ documentary, it feels even more important, to meat least, to do the podcast because we were the ones who were there,”Ushkowitz told the outlet. “And we were the ones experiencing this. And weknow what really happened. So you know, for me, it feels even more pertinentto actually be the ones to share our experience when people are sharingexperiences that they didn’t have.”
McHale added, “I also think the other reason why we wanted to do this was thatwith the pandemic and TikTok, there has been this weird resurgence of Glee.A whole new generation of people has been finding it. Like, children, whoweren’t alive when the show started. We talked to [creator] Ryan [Murphy ] about that, too, about just how cool and what an opportunity thatis for people. They’re not necessarily attached to all of the, let’s say,drama, or the bad things people will talk about in the press because they’rejust seeing this with new eyes.”
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Fellow cast member Chord Overstreet also spoke about the new docuseriesback in August. “I think anybody that knows anything about that show andexperienced it doesn’t have anything to do with that from what I know,” hesaid on ___The Elvis Duran Show_. “We’re all really close and pretty much likefamily. Nobody knows anything about that. I think it’s a little bit of likejust trying to get people to watch something. I don’t think anybody reallyknows anything about it. I think it’s just like a tabloid thing trying tosell.”
McHale and Jenna starred on all six seasons of Glee , which ended in 2015.Overstreet joined in season two as Sam Evans. Monteith played theircharacter’s friend Finn Hudson, and was also an original cast member. He diedat age 31 of an accidental overdose in 2013.
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In 2018, Salling, who played Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the show, died ofsuicide at 35 at while awaiting sentencing in a legal case to which he hadpleaded guilty to possession of child pornography involving a prepubescentminor.
In 2020, on the seventh anniversary of Monteith’s death, Rivera, who playedSantana Lopez on Glee was confirmed dead of accidental drowning at 33 aftera boating accident.
Herfather, George Rivera is featured in The Price of Glee docuseries.During his interview, he reflects on how the series impacted his latedaughter’s life. “I knew that was the top of the mountain for Naya,” he saysin the trailer, released Dec. 8. “For your kid, it was just surreal.”
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National SuicidePrevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).