Keke Palmer Weighs in on Viral Internet Conspiracy That Scream Queens Costar Lea Michele Can't Read: 'She's Got To'

Keke Palmer shares her two cents on Lea Michele and her literacy.

During the November 19 episode Toast podcast, the actress, 31, addressed a viral internet conspiracy involving her ex Scream queens costar and her supposed inability to read.

“I know he can read, y’all,” Palmer said. “I’ve never seen her read, but I know she can read. She has to.”

While claiming she’d never seen Michele, 38, read a book on set, she laughed: “Damn, it’s crazy why people do things like that. I mean, don’t let anyone see me reading a book on set. Y’all know that girl knows read.”

From left: Lea Michele, Billie Lourd, Abigail Breslin, Emma Roberts and Niecy Nash in ‘Scream Queens’.

FOX Image Collection/Getty

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“Honestly, if she can’t read, so what? S—, some people can’t read. [If] she can’t read, mom can’t read,” Palmer said, adding that she is “here” for those who are illiterate.

Michele, who took on the role of Hester Ulrich in the Ryan Murphy comedy, previously addressed internet rumors that she can’t read or write. Over the years, several viral TikToks and social media threads have pushed the conspiracy theory that Michele never learned to read, with people claiming to show “evidence.”

“I went to joy every day; I knew my sentences every day. And then there are rumors circulating on the internet that I can’t read or write? That’s sad. It really is,” she said The New York Times in 2022. “I often think that if I were a man, many things would not be so.”

Lea Michele and Cory Monteith in ‘Glee’.

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Michele also previously joked about the rumors when they surfaced in March 2018. She set the record straight with a sense of humor, tweeting to a fan who said he must be “laughing his head off right now” about it: “Loved READING this tweet and wanted to tell you retort that I am literally laughing out loud at all this?

Palmer is not the first of Michele’s colleagues to join the conspiracy.

During the performance at Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in January 2023, Emma Roberts spoke openly about seeing Michele on Broadway Funny girl and her biggest misconception is about her.

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When host Andy Cohen guessed that the fallacy was “that she can’t read,” Roberts replied with a laugh, “I mean, we weren’t in book club together, but… No.”

Modern family alum Julie Bowen, who appeared alongside her, joked: “Why the hell is reading so important? Let her not read if that’s what she wants.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education