Glee fans have celebrated the “delicious” moment Alex Newell won a Tony Award in front of their former co-star Lea Michele.
Back in 2020, Newell was among the Glee cast members to accuse Michele of “bad” behaviour on set of the musical comedy series.
Newell, who rose to fame on the reality spin-off series The Glee Project and played Wade “Unique” Adams on Glee, defended Michele’s original accuser Samantha Marie Ware after she claimed that the actor made her life a “living hell” on the Fox show.
Referencing Ware, Newell tweeted: “When my friend goes through something traumatic, I also go through it. That’s what friendship is and if you can’t understand that then you’re part of the problem. I mean that for both sides of this coin!”
Michele apologised at the time for her behaviour, suggesting that her “privileged position” might have been why her co-stars thought she was acting “inappropriately”.
Both Newell and Michele were in attendance at Sunday (11 June) night’s Tony Awards, as the theatre community came together to celebrate the best of Broadway. You can find the full list of winners here.
But while Michele performed with Funny Girl, having taken over the role of Fanny Brice from Beanie Feldstein after the revival failed to win a single Tony in 2022, Newell was one of the big winners of the night.
Michele sat in front of Newell, with the actor ignoring their applauding former co-star as they went up on stage to collect the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical.
“Thank you for seeing me, Broadway,” Newell told the crowd in their speech. “I should not be up here as a queer non-binary, fat, Black lil baby from Massachusetts.”
On social media, fans quickly noticed the moment as they celebrated Newell’s success.
“Alex Newell winning a Tony in front of Lea Michele (who is sitting in the audience, Tony-less),” wrote one viewer.
“Something so poetic about Alex Newell winning a Tony in front of Lea Michele,” another tweet read.
“I don’t know but having Lea Michele perform ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ in the Tony Awards – the role Rachel Berry was obsessed with – while not being eligible for a nomination and having her Black Glee co-star Alex Newell win a Tony in front of her is… ironic,” one fan commented.
Newell’s win, along with that of Some Like It Hot star J Harrison Ghee, marked the first time an openly non-binary actor has ever won a Tony Award.
You can read the biggest talking points from Sunday’s ceremony here.
