Matthew Morrison has denied claims he acted inappropriately on the set of So You Think You Can Dance.
Late last month, it was alleged that the Glee star, 43, was ‘fired’ from the hit show after sending ‘flirty direct messages’ to a contestant on Instagram.
But taking to the social media platform on Thursday (2 June), Morrison hit back at the claims, even reading out a message exchange between himself and a contestant to his 939,000 followers.
Morrison started his video by saying: “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.”
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He then went on to read aloud an Instagram exchange he’d had with a SYTYCD contestant, saying: “So, in the interest of transparency, I will read to you the one message I wrote to a dancer on the show.”
Morrison continued: “Hey, it’s Matthew. If you don’t mind, would love to get your number and talk you through some things.”
The actor then said: “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.”
Morrison concluded his video by saying: “It’s devastating that we live in this world where gossip rules and people’s lives are being thrown around as clickbait. I think this is much bigger than me and this story. Gossip is toxic and it is destroying our society, and we need to do better.”
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On May 31, People ran a story about the allegations aimed at Morrison after speaking to a ‘source close to the show’ who claimed Morrison was let go from SYTYCD because of an ‘inappropriate relationship with a female contestant’.
“They didn’t have sex, but he reached out to her through flirty direct messages on social media,” the unnamed source told the outlet.
They continued: “She felt uncomfortable with his line of comments and went to producers, who then got Fox involved. He was fired after they did their own investigation.”
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The source also said that Morrison ‘never met the contestant off-set’ and ‘it was just messages that crossed the line’.
The claims came shortly after Morrison announced his departure from the show, saying in a statement that he’d ‘failed to follow competition production protocols’.
Morrison’s statement read: “Having the opportunity to be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance was an incredible honour for me. Therefore, it is my deepest regret to inform you that I will be leaving the show.
“After filming the audition rounds for the show and completing the selection of the 12 finalists, I did not follow competition production protocols, preventing me from being able to judge the competition fairly.”
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UNILAD has approached Morrison’s representatives for comment.
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Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity