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Morrison refutes departure claim
“Glee” alum Matthew Morrison is repudiating a salacious claim about his abrupt departure from the Fox competition “So You Think You Can Dance.”
After only a two-month stint, the married actorsinger recently announced his exit from his role as a judge on the series. Then he took to Instagram on Thursday to shut down a report alleging that he had an inappropriate relationship with a contestant that led to his departure.
“It’s really unfortunate that I have to sit here and defend myself and my family against blatantly untrue statements made anonymously, but I have nothing to hide,” the 43-year-old said Thursday in a video message.
“In the interest of transparency,” he also read the “one” message he sent to the dancer that he suggested was at the core of the scandal. (TMZ reported that it had verified the message.)
“‘Hey, it’s Matthew. If you don’t mind, would love to get your number and talk you through some things,’ ” Morrison recited, appearing to read the missive off his phone screen.
“The end. I sent this because this dancer and I both share a mutual respect for a choreographer that I’ve known for over 20 years, and I was trying to help her get a job as a choreographer on the show,” he said.
When announcing his exit on May 27 — less than two weeks after he debuted on the show on May 18 — Morrison said he “did not follow production protocols” and that prevented him from “being able to judge the competition fairly.”
People reported Tuesday that Morrison was fired from the series “after he had an inappropriate
relationship with a female contestant.” But the magazine attributed the remarks to an unnamed source.
Representatives for
Fox declined to comment Friday.
“So You Think You Can Dance” episodes including Morrison are expected to air through mid-June, Entertainment Weekly reported, and a new personality is expected to join JoJo Siwa and Stephen “tWitch” Boss on the judge’s panel.
Morrison, Siwa and tWitch replaced judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy after the dance competition returned from its two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
White home in LA sold:
Betty White’s home in
Los Angeles sold for
$10.6 million, about $100,000 over asking price.
The house was listed in April, four months after White’s death, and sold to an anonymous buyer, the Wall Street Journal reported. The exact sale price was $10,678,000.
Sotheby’s Realty listed the home in Brentwood Park for $10,575,000. It has about 3,000 square feet, five bedrooms and six full bathrooms.
White and her third husband, Allen Ludden, moved into the home in 1968. They also had a property by the beach in Carmel, California, which sold for $10.7 million in April. Ludden died in 1981.
June 6 birthdays: Singer Gary U.S. Bonds is 83. Actor Robert Englund is 75. Actor Harvey Fierstein is 70. Musician Jimmy Jam is 63. Comedian Colin Quinn is 63. Actor Jason Isaacs is 59. Actor Paul Giamatti is 55. Guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer is 52. Actor Sonya Walger is 48. Actor Aubrey Anderson-Emmons is 15.