Lea Michele referenced the viral rumor that she can't read in a recent TikTok video posted over the weekend.
In her video, the former "Glee" star lip synced to a clip from "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." The audio is of Kardashian on a phone call while in Mexico. She's asked "how is it?" She responds, "It's amazing," before getting emotional, and saying, "but wait can you talk for a sec?"
The text on Michele's video, which has amassed nearly 10 million views as of Monday, reads, "Calling Jonathan to read me the comments on my first TikTok."
She had posted her first TikTok over the weekend. Jonathan refers to actor Jonathan Groff, who Michele is close friends with.
The online rumor that Michele can't read began as a joke in 2017, according to meme database Know Your Meme.
The first reference of the joke came from the podcast "One More Thing," in which hosts Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman read late actor Naya Rivera's book "Sorry Not Sorry." Rivera and Michele worked together on "Glee."
After reading a passage about Michele refusing to improvise, the hosts joked that Michele might have had her lines fed to her because she couldn't read.
The commenters on Michele's TikTok video appeared thrilled to see the actor subtly weighing in the years-old meme.
"LEA THIS IS WHAT THE PEOPLE WANTED THANK YOU!!!!" one person wrote in response to the video.
Another person commented, "Brilliant PR move... this is winning me over."
Michele has acknowledged the rumors before. In a tweet from 2018, Michele responded to a person discussing the rumor with, "Loved READING this tweet and wanted to WRITE you back. Literally laughing out loud at all this. Love you."
That same year, Michele acknowledged the rumors on the show "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen."
In a recent New York Times profile, Michele condemned the rumors, calling them "sad" and claiming they had a sexist undertone.
“I went to 'Glee' every single day," Michele told the publication. "I knew my lines every single day. And then there’s a rumor online that I can’t read or write? It’s sad. It really is. I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case."
Michele took over the lead role of Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” on Broadway earlier this month, after Beanie Feldstein departed the production.
Michele recently tested positive for Covid-19, resulting in her having to step away from the production for 10 days. She joined TikTok during that time.
In her first TikTok video, she lip syncs in a duet with a creator who parodied what he thought Michele would look like on opening night of “Funny Girl.”
She made the caption “Clearly I can’t wait to get back to @funnygrlbwy next week.”
