The ‘curse’ of Glee
The death of Naya Rivera has fans speculating on the unfair share of tragedies that have befallen the cast and…
It was one of the most fun-filled shows on TV, but what happened to some of those that found fame on the hit US musical comedy-drama Glee – about a group of high school misfits who join a music club – was much, much darker.
Now, whispers of a ‘curse’ surrounding the show (which ran from 2009 to 2015) have resurfaced – following the shock death of cast member Naya Rivera, 33.
On 8 July, Naya (who played sassy Santana Lopez) took a pontoon boat out on Lake Piru in California with her fouryear-old son, Josey.
When she failed to return, an alarm was raised and, in a scene too devastating to contemplate, Naya’s little boy was found alone. Josey – who
Naya shared with ex-husband Ryan Dorsey – was still wearing his life jacket, but his mother’s was found inside the boat. The lake is about 30ft deep – with patches of deep water that can have hypothermic conditions, occasional huge waves and strong currents.
It’s believed the pair had been swimming and police concluded that in her final moments, the desperate Glee star ‘mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not enough to save herself’.
Five days later, Naya’s body was found in the lake and a coroner recorded death by accidental drowning.
Sadly, this is far from the first dark chapter in the
Glee ‘family’ history. Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room on 13
July 2013 – ruled an accidental overdose of alcohol and heroin.
Just two months later, assistant director Jim Fuller, 41, died of suspected heart failure. The following summer, Matt Bendik ( boyfriend of cast member Becca Tobin) was also found dead in a hotel room, from a heart attack. He was 31. Mark Salling – who played Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman – took his life on 30 January 2018, weeks after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography. And there have been other headlinehitting incidents: Jesse Luken, who played jock Bobby Surette, was charged with drink-driving in March 2019. Last November, Melissa Benoist claimed to have been a victim of domestic abuse, and more recently, cast member Samantha Ware accused fellow Glee star Lea Michele of ‘bullying’ that made her life ‘a living hell’.
Since Naya’s death, Twitter has been plagued with speculation with one user asking, ‘This is starting to get creepy. Like did the Glee show have a curse put on it?’
You may not believe there is any such thing as a ‘curse’ but it is true to say that the cast has suffered more than its fair share of tragedy....
‘Sadly, this is far from the first dark chapter in the Glee family history…’