Why Do People Think Lea Michele Can't Read?

Over the past few weeks, a five-year-old conspiracy theory (ancient in internet times) has somehow roared back into public discussion: can actress Lea Michele, star of Glee and now Broadway's Funny Girl, read?

It seems preposterous to think that the 36-year-old actress doesn't know such a basic life skill, and in truth, there's very little serious evidence to support the theory. Nevertheless, the idea that Lea Michele can't read has been a popular meme over the past few weeks, with people ruthlessly cracking wise over her supposed illiteracy, much to Michele's dismay. Let's break it down:

How Did The Theory Start?

The idea that Lea Michele can't read started as a joke between podcast hosts Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman of One More Thing. In 2017, the pair were discussing the late Naya Rivera's book Sorry Not Sorry about her time on Glee. The pair discussed an anecdote Rivera tells of Michele, who is reportedly difficult to work with on set, in which Rivera claimed Michele refused to improvise a scene with veteran actor Tim Conway. The pair joked that perhaps the reason why is because Michele couldn't read and had director Ryan Murphy feeding her lines through an earpiece, rendering her incapable of improvising.

Hunt and Ackerman then decided to completely dive in on their joke, creating a tongue-in-cheek conspiracy documentary "proving" Michele can't read. It's clearly not meant to be taken seriously, starting with the premise that Michele began her career and show business at the age of 8 and never learned how to read and pays someone to read for her. Their "evidence" is extremely tenuous, which makes it all the more amusing.

They point to pictures of Michele at a book signing, but her pen isn't touching the paper, "proving" she can't write. In one Instagram photo, it looks like Michele has signed her name on a chalkboard, but actually all she did was underline her already-written name. In her Instagram posts, if there is text in the caption, the hosts contend that means an assistant created the post. If it's just emojis, it's by Michele herself.

All of this is clearly a gag, but it spread widely on Facebook, as most people jokingly participated in the pair's theory. The full video has been scrubbed from the internet, perhaps as a result of Michele's legal team, but the ideas it presented could not be silenced.

Why Does The Lea Michele Conspiracy Theory Persist?

Cockamamie conspiracy theories about celebrities are nothing new, particularly with the proliferation of fandom (and anti-fandom) culture online. Currently, a conspiracy theory is floating around that Harry Styles is bald based on evidence that's as tenuous as the evidence in the "Lea Michele can't read" theory. The difference is that, whereas Harry is generally well-liked and thought to be easy-going, Michele has a reputation for being cruel and difficult to castmates, meaning that every time a negative story surfaces about her, the idea that she can't read rears its head.

In 2020, Michele was publically accused by her former Glee castmates of bullying onset. One castmate, Samantha Marie Ware, accused Michele of saying she wanted to "shit in her wig." Dabier Snell wrote that Michele forbid him from sitting with other cast members because he "didn't belong there." This understandably soured the public's perception of Michele, which Vice and others have hypothesized may be a reason why the conspiracy persists.

Why Is The "Lea Michele Can't Read" Theory Back Now?

In the summer of 2022, Lea Michele was cast as Fanny Brice in Broadway's Funny Girl, a noted lifelong dream role for the actress. On July 10th, 2022, Twitter user @freyasilly1234 essentially memed the conspiracy Michele couldn't read back into public consciousness with a tweet that read, "lea michele made a deal with the devil so she could be in funny girl on broadway… she’s like Ariel but instead of trading her voice she traded the ability to read."

This kicked off weeks of memeing on Michele's supposed illiteracy, as the quality and creativity of the jokes reached new heights and lasted for several months.

How Does Michele Feel About All This?

Michele has been aware of the conspiracy for years, initially treating it with amusement before clearly growing weary with the meme. In 2018, she cracked that she loved reading about the theory. Later that year, she joked about it with late-night host Andy Cohen.

By the time the conspiracy reappeared with full vigor in 2022, however, it was clear her attitude had changed. In a September profile with the New York Times, she implied there was sexism driving the conspiracy, and insisted she showed up to set "knowing her lines every single day." However, to the amusement of online jokesters, she didn't explicitly say "Yes of course I can read," inadvertently adding more fuel to the conspiracy's fire.

Michele's condemnation and lack-of-outright-denial of the "illiteracy" theory only served to further boost it, making the New York Times interview a Streisand Effect moment. Perhaps this is fitting: after all, the person who immortalized the role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl was none other than Barbara Streisand.

For more information on this topic, check out the KnowYourMeme entry for Lea Michele Can't Read.