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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.
\u201cShow me this \u201ccast\u201d you speak of. This is \ud83d\uddd1\ufe0f\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
He followed up the tweet with this warning:
\u201cThis was the nice version, ftr. Don\u2019t make me speak on this again.\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
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.
\u201c@druidDUDE Thank you Kevin!!! So glad someone spoke out. No more needs to be sad. This was enough. \u2764\ufe0f\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
\u201c@druidDUDE Truly exploitative, and I hate everything about it\u2019s existence.\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
\u201c@druidDUDE i\u2019m so sorry they\u2019re putting you guys through this\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
\u201c@druidDUDE what\u2019s even the point of it, if it\u2019s not a documentary about Glee WITH the glee cast \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d pls. as a \u201cGleek\u201d myself, I won\u2019t be watching it.\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
\u201c@druidDUDE I was interested when I first heard about a Glee doc\u2026 and then I found out what it was actually about and lost all interest. This is gross.\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
\u201c@druidDUDE Thank you Kevin. As usual. This so so disrespectful to Naya and Cory and all of you honestly. It's infuriating.\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
\u201c@druidDUDE This is so messed up. I can\u2019t believe they thought this was a good idea\u2026 it\u2019s disgusting and disrespectful on so many levels\u2026\u201d— Kevin McHale (@Kevin McHale) 1670646735
In response to being rebuffed by McHale, Ray-Harris clarified:
\u201coh sorry it is crew and family not crew and cast, i do not feel this is a big difference. i am sorry to artie\u201d— ashley ray (@ashley ray) 1670524506
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 InTouchWeekly:
"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."