Emma Roberts Addresses Rumor BFF Lea Michele Can’t Read In Hilarous Interview: Watch

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Emma Roberts proved that no good deed goes unpunished in the most hilarious way! While singing the praises of her bestie Lea Michele, the actress may have accidentally perpetuated a bizarre illiteracy rumor about her Scream Queens costar during Wednesday’s visit to Watch What Happens Live. After Emma called Lea “talented” and “down to earth,” host Andy Cohen suggested the “biggest misconception” about Lea is that “she can’t read.” Emma didn’t exactly put that rumor to bed by replying, “Well… I mean… We’ve not been in a book club together!”

Of course, the clip went viral and fans were quick to point out that Emma did not refute the baseless rumor, which first gained traction in 2017 after a podcast made a joke about the Glee star not being able to memorize her own lines. “The way she didn’t say that lea can read….” commented one TikTok user, as another shared, “Why does no one answer! i love how everyone who has worked with lea laughs at the theory but doesn’t deny it either.”

The rumor had a renewed spotlight in September 2022 when Lea broke her silence on it during a New York Times interview. While she said she feared responding to the gossip would only fuel the fire, the actress did want to address the outrageous claim outright. “I went to ‘Glee’ every single day; I knew my lines every single day,” she told the outlet. “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.”

Just a few days after the NYT interview, Lea showed off her impeccable sense of humor when she also poked fun at herself over the rumor in one of her very first TikToks. The actress, who is currently living her best life playing Fanny Brice on Broadway’s Funny Girl, took to the platform to mock the illiteracy speculation by pretending to call up her best friend, Jonathan Groff, to “read” the TikTok comments to her.

Meanwhile, Emma, who gushed about Lea’s performance in Funny Girl to Andy, recently admitted she hopes to reunite with the actress for another round of Scream Queens, which ran for two seasons from 2015 to 2016. “I want a Scream Queens Season 3 and I think now’s the time. I don’t actually know who’s in charge of the yes or no to that, but yes, we should make that happen,” Emma told ComicBook.com. “I’m so happy that people still love it so much, honestly, we had so much fun making it. So I would love it, I would be so down.”