Glee cast member Kevin McHale slammed the upcoming docuseries about the Fox TV musical series in which he co-starred for six seasons.
The Price of Glee, which will have a January 16 premiere on Investigation Discovery and Discovery+, will cover the legacy of the show and will touch on the deaths of cast members Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera and Mark Salling.
When writer Ashley Ray-Harris tweeted the show's cast and crew members would be involved in the three-part docuseries, McHale–who played Artie Abrams–shot down the project and denied being a part of it.
He tweeted in response:
"Show me this 'cast' you speak of."
He added a wastebasket emoji to imply it was all garbage.
He followed up the tweet with this warning:
There is no confirmation of either key cast members from Glee or its creator Ryan Murphy being a part of the new docuseries from Ample Entertainment–the company behind HBO docuseries The Invisible Pilot and Facebook’s 9 Months with Courteney Cox.
A press release for the series stated it would feature:
"Relatives and friends of 'Glee' cast members; those who were on the set and close to it such as set decorators, hairdressers, stylists, and publicists; and entertainment reporters who covered the phenomenon."
Here is a trailer for The Price of Glee.
The Price of Glee - Official Traileryoutu.be
Loyal "Gleeks" thought the gossipy nature ofThe Price of Glee was exploitative of the cast members who are no longer with us.
Many fans weighed in in protest.
In response to being rebuffed by McHale, Ray-Harris clarified:
The Price of Glee will reportedly:
"Lift the curtain to reveal the highs and lows of the production and the on-set community and will also feature testimonials of close family and friends with never-heard-before stories."
Deadline said that the docuseries:
"Will address the controversies surrounding the series, including the case of Mark Salling, who played Puck. Salling was arrested and pleaded guilty to possessing images of child sex abuse and killed himself while awaiting sentencing."
"Then there was the death of Cory Monteith, who played Finn. Monteith died of an accidental heroin overdose."
"His girlfriend Lea Michele, who played Rachel Berry, was accused of on-set bullying."
"After the show ended, Naya Rivera, who played Santana Lopez, died on a boating trip, survived by her four-year old son Josey."
Glee also featured cast members Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Heather Morris, Darren Criss and Melissa Benoist.
McHale and his former Glee co-star Jenna Ushkowitz stated on their Glee podcast And That's What You REALLY Missed they will not appear in the project.
Earlier this month, Ushkowitz told In Touch Weekly:
"We're not really associated with it."
McHale added:
"You don't necessarily want to give something more attention than it maybe deserves or needs. But we'll see."
"Us and all of our friends have nothing to do with it, so we'll see what happens."
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