USA TODAY International Edition
There is not a lot of levity in ‘ Glee’ doc
“The Price of Glee,” a three- part limited series, explores what has been dubbed among viewers of the 2009- 15 hit Fox musical high school drama, created by Ryan Murphy, as “the Glee curse”: Five tragic, dramatic situations that played out in the public eye: the deaths of stars Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera and Mark Salling; abuse allegations from Melissa Benoist toward her ex, Blake Jenner, and allegations of racism against Lea Michele.
“Glee,” the tabloidy docuseries explains, featured young, largely undiscovered actors who were suddenly thrust into the world’s biggest spotlight and were not equipped to handle it.
“The Price of Glee” premiered Monday with all episodes airing back- to- back on Investigation Discovery ( 9 EST/ PST) and streams on Discovery+. Here’s everything you need to know:
Who is in ‘ The Price of Glee’ – and who isn’t?
Gleeks hoping to catch a glimpse of the show’s alumni won’t find them here. “Price” features dozens of interviews, but hardly any of the names are recognizable. Naya Rivera’s father and a former performer in rival show choir Vocal Adrenaline are the closest you’ll find. Otherwise, interviews with entertainment reporters, behind- the- scenes staff who worked on “Glee” and friends of some of the cast members tell the story.
Cory Monteith’s substance abuse struggles and overdose
Cory Monteith, who played jock Finn Hudson and love interest ( on and offscreen) to Michele ( who played Rachel Berry), died July 13, 2013, in Vancouver, Canada, of an overdose of heroin and alcohol. He was 31.
Monteith had disclosed his struggles with substance abuse but had attended rehab and told his roommates he was sober when he moved to Los Angeles.
“I remember him telling me once ‘ I thought I was going to die young,’ ” says his former roommate Justin Neill. “He was mixed up with the wrong stuff back then.”
Naya Rivera’s accidental drowning
Naya Rivera, who played snarky cheerleader Santana Lopez, died July 8, 2020, in an accidental drowning in California’s Lake Piru. She was 33.
Her body was found five days later, on the seventh anniversary of Monteith’s death.
Mark Salling’s legal issues, suicide
Mark Salling, who played bad boy Noah “Puck” Puckerman, was found dead Jan. 30, 2018, by the Los Angeles River in what was later ruled a suicide. He was 35.
Salling had recently pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and was scheduled to be sentenced two months later.
Blake Jenner and Melissa Benoist’s allegedly abusive relationship
Melissa Benoist, who joined “Glee” in Season 4 as wallflower Marley Rose, opened up in 2019 about being the victim of domestic violence while married to Blake Jenner, another former star in the series. Jenner admitted to and apologized for the abuse a year later, but claimed there was “mental, emotional and physical abuse inflicted from both ends.”
Lea Michele’s racism scandal
In the summer of 2020, a former “Glee” actress accused Michele, of “traumatic microaggressions.”
Samantha Ware, who appeared in the final season, called out Michele after the singer and actress tweeted using the # BlackLivesMatter hashtag. Michele, now the star of Broadway’s “Funny Girl,” lost a brand sponsorship as a result, and several “Glee” stars suggested on social media and in interviews that the actress was difficult to work with.
What has the former ‘ Glee’ cast said about the series?
Reactions from “Glee” stars to the docuseries have been overwhelmingly negative.
● Jenna Ushkowitz ( Tina Cohen- Chang) to BuzzFeed in November: “We were the ones who were there. And we were the ones experiencing this. And we know what really happened.”
Kevin McHale
● ( Artie Abrams) to In Touch in December: “You don’t necessarily want to give something more attention than it maybe deserves or needs. ... Us and all of our friends have nothing to do with it, so we’ll see what happens.”
● Chord Overstreet ( Sam Evans) on the “Elvis Duran” morning radio show in November: “I don’t think anybody really knows anything about it. I think it’s just like a tabloid thing trying to sell.”
● Becca Tobin ( Kitty Wilde) on the “Everything Iconic With Danny Pellegrino” podcast in August: “It doesn’t matter what happened on that set. At the end of the day, it’s a family. It’s like a big dysfunctional family, and there is a loyalty there. Like mob mentality. Where I’m like, ‘ I don’t care how much I hated this person at work. There’s something that runs so deep in my blood that I could hate you so much, but I don’t hate you enough. I don’t hate us enough to go do that.’ ”