THE GLEE cast has been at the center of numerous scandals and tragedies. The Golden Globe-winning Fox series premiered on May 19, 2009, and aired for six seasons until its finale on March 20, 2015. Glee revolved around the New Directions, a glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School that competes as a show choir as its members, a group of ambitious misfits, navigate and confront social issues, including race, family, sexuality, teen relationships, and teamwork.
Throughout the show's run, and even after it ended, the Glee cast was plagued with tragedy after tragedy. The misfortunes became so common that those close to the production began to think the show was cursed. Last year, a three-part ID and Discovery+ docuseries, The Price of Glee, was created to document all the calamities that befell the cast.
The series launched cast members Cory Monteith, Mark Salling, and Naya Rivera into superstardom but, unfortunately, their lives were eventually cut short due to tragic circumstances. In July 2020, Naya went missing after she went swimming with her son on a rented boat in Lake Piru - 60 miles north of Los Angeles . Her then 4-year-old son, Josey , was found asleep and alone on the boat on July 8, but the Glee star was nowhere in sight.
According to TMZ , the child told authorities that his mother had "jumped into the water but didn't come back up." Authorities reportedly found her life jacket still in the boat. The 33-year-old mother's body was found five days later on July 13, 2020, floating near the surface of the lake.
An autopsy ruled Naya's cause of death as an accidental drowning , according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner. The actress, who starred as Santana Lopez in the show, faced problems in her personal life following the end of the award-winning sitcom. In 2017, Naya was arrested and charged with domestic battery after allegedly assaulting her actor ex-husband Ryan Dorsey in an argument over their child.
The charge was dropped after Ryan told prosecutors he no longer wanted to proceed with the case. Naya's death was the latest tragedy to hit the former cast of the musical dramedy series. The series' most controversial actor, Mark Salling, was found dead by suicide in January 2018.
While Glee was airing, Mark faced accusations of sexual battery from ex-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela. The two settled out of court in March 2015 with the actor agreeing to pay $2.7 million.
Just months later, in December 2015, he was arrested on child pornography charges. He pleaded guilty to possession of 50,000 child abuse images in September 2017 but took his life weeks before he was scheduled to be sentenced. Authorities say Salling, who played Noah "Puck" Puckerman in all six seasons, was found in the woods near a Los Angeles baseball field.
In another shocking incident, actor Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson on the show, died at the height of the success in July 2013. The body of the Canadian actor, 31, was found in his hotel room after he consumed a "mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol," authorities said. An autopsy conducted by the British Columbia Coroners Service confirmed the findings and revealed that Cory also had codeine and morphine in his system at the time of his death.
The Glee star had a history of substance abuse, dating back to when he was 13. Just months before his death, Monteith's publicist announced in March of that year that the actor admitted himself into a treatment facility for substance abuse. The show paid tribute to Cory by memorializing his character, Finn Hudson, in a similar fashion.
"Everyone wants to talk about how he died too, but who cares?" Chris Colfer said as character Kurt Hummel before adding, "One moment in his whole life — I care more about how he lived." Following the death of Naya, reports emerged that the set of Glee was not always a gleeful place to work. In June 2020, actress Samantha Ware accused Lea Michele, 37, of making her time on the show "a living hell" via X .
Multiple cast members then came forward with similar allegations of "bullying" against the Emmy award nominee. An insider revealed to Page Six that Lea had a “real wake-up call” after the brutal allegations. “It’s never easy to hear people speak about you this way.
It’s a total shock,” the source said. Someone who worked with her in the past told the outlet, “Lea was a b***h to a lot of people who are now taking the opportunity to come forward. “She may not be the nicest person, but she’s not racist, sexist, or transphobic.
“I would say she has behavioral issues that she’s dealing with." Season 4 cast member Becca Tobin suffered a personal tragedy when her boyfriend, nightclub entrepreneur Matt Bendik, was found dead in his Philadelphia hotel room in July 2014 at the age of 35. In November 2019, Melissa Benoist claimed she was a “survivor of domestic violence” and intimate partner violence.
“I learned what it felt like to be pinned down and slapped repeatedly, punched so hard the wind was knocked out of me, dragged by my hair across pavement, head-butted, pinched until my skin broke, shoved into a wall so hard the drywall broke, choked,” she shared in an Instagram post. “I learned to lock myself in rooms but quickly stopped because the door was inevitably broken down. I learned to not value any of my property — replaceable and irreplaceable.
I learned not to value myself," she continued. Earlier this week, Glee star Heather Morris shared a tribute to her late costar Naya Rivera on the fourth anniversary of her death. "I can’t believe it’s been 4 years.
.boy how time flies," Heather, 37, wrote on Instagram on Monday. Glee launched cast members Cory Monteith, Mark Salling and Naya Rivera into superstardom but, unfortunately, their lives were cut short due to tragic circumstances.
Cory Monteith died on July 13, 2013, due to a drug overdose. The actor consumed a "mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol." Mark Salling was found dead by suicide in January 2018.
He took his life weeks before he was due to be sentenced for possession of 50,000 child abuse images. Naya Rivera went missing on July 8, 2020, while boating at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. Her body was found five days later on July 13, 2020, floating near the surface of the lake.
Her death was ruled an accidental drowning. The message was accompanied by a photo of Heather and Naya, along with another costar, lying on a couch. "Yet every year I’m taken by surprise how much it still hurts.
We grew up together, fell apart, and came back together in such a beautiful way," she continued. "God you’re missed so much..
.except I can’t shake the feeling you never left..
.you’re still here with us..
guiding us to our highest potential." "I miss you Nay Nay," Heather ended. Heather played Brittany S.
Pierce and Naya was a cheerleader named Santana Lopez on Glee. Brittany and Santana entered an LGBTQ+ relationship on the show..
