Jameela Jamil Calls Lea Michele 'Can't Read' Jokes 'Ableist'

Ahead of Michele's Broadway debut as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, the New York Times published an interview with the controversial actress, in which she talks about everything from taking on the "dream" role to her alleged bullying of Glee co-star Samantha Marie Ware. And though the focus was supposed to be on her professional and personal growth, Michele also used the piece as an opportunity to finally push back against the old rumor that she's not able to read — and Jamil was right there to back her up.

This past weekend, the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law star took to her Instagram with a text post chastising the people who decided to revive the joke following Michele's casting.

"I see a lot of people claiming a certain actress can't read... and then laughing at her," Jamil wrote. "Whatever your issue with someone, and I don't know this woman, or anything about her, but laughing at the idea of *anyone* not being able to read makes YOU look like a prick. An elitist, ableist bore. It's embarrassing for you, not them."

That said, Jamil also went on to expound on her critique in the caption by adding, "Don't let the debris of your bullets meant for some... hit those you weren't aiming at," especially since "some people can't read because of disability, learning disabilities, some can't because of a lack of access to education."

"Your words and actions also affect them," she said before concluding, "If you're so fucking smart, find a smarter way to insult the people you think are bad."

Though Michele has yet to publicly comment on Jamil's post, she did characterize the conspiracy theory as "sad" and misogynistic, telling the Times she often thinks that "if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case." In the meantime though, you can read what Jamil has to say about the rumor below.

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Photos via Getty / Frazer Harrison & Tibrina Hobson