Should We Forgive Lea Michele?

This article was originally published in the OnStage Blog newsletter on 7/15/2022

by Greg Ehrhardt, OnStage Blog Editorial Staff

In all the outrage over Lea Michele taking over the lead of ‘Funny Girl’, there has been some asking whether we should “forgive” Lea Michele for her previous transgressions, move past it, and accept her in the role?

I accept this argument on the merits, but we should discuss what merits forgiveness, accepting past transgressions and “moving on”.

First, let’s start with the concept of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is something everyone should practice, and you can practice it without being particularly religious. No one is perfect. Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) makes mistakes. Forgiveness is acknowledging that the person is indeed human, and they made a very bad decision or series of decisions just like you have in different circumstances.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s state the obvious; you can forgive someone without having to put up with that person. Forgiveness does not mean you give the person a 2nd chance, not necessarily.

Deciding whether to give someone a second chance is an entirely different evaluation.

First, did the person make a mistake, or make a bad choice?

People who make honest mistakes should be given a second chance under almost any circumstance.

What if they made a bad choice? Should they be given a second chance?

Well, it depends.

Was it a bad choice for selfish reasons, or was it a bad choice for the right reasons that turned out badly?

If it was “for the right reasons”, they probably deserve a second chance.

If it was for selfish reasons, should they be given a second chance?

Well again, it depends.

It depends on how remorseful they are. Did they apologize to the wronged person? Did they acknowledge what they did was wrong, and or did they do one of those fake apologies where they were sorry if someone’s feelings were hurt.

If the remorse is genuine, and the apology was direct, they should be given a second chance.

If they haven’t apologized or expressed remorse, should they be given a second chance?

Well, (you might be getting the theme here), it depends.

Have they served any type of punishment, whether according to the law, or career wise?

If they have served an appropriate punishment, then its possible they learned their lesson even without the public remorse, and deserve a second chance.

If they haven’t served any type of punishment, well, I’m running out of reasons for second chances.

When it comes to Lea Michele, you can walk down the decision tree I just laid out and figure out whether she deserves a second chance. I could walk you through it with my thinking, the evaluation is up to each individual person.

Plus, your psychoanalysis of Lea Michele is as good as mine.

I’ll end on this: ask yourself, of all the talented female singers out there, even the famous ones, why did they pick Lea Michele? Why didn’t they give another singer their chance at Broadway stardom instead of a singer who behaved very badly and gave a half-hearted apology at best.

The answer is simple: money.

Money’s decision tree is a lot simpler than the one we just walked through. It’s a really simple process: can you make me more money, or not?

With that said, I can see a world where Lea Michele can be forgiven, and we move on.

As for someone who makes their decisions purely on greed, well, that is someone I can never forgive.