Yahoo News Glee star Heather Morris apologises for ‘triggering’ comments about late co-star Mark Salling
Glee star Heather Morris has apologised for “triggering” comments made about her late co-star Mark Salling.
Salling, who was arrested for possession of child pornography, died by suicide in 2018.
He pleaded guilty to the charges against him, but died before he could be sentenced.
His death followed Cory Monteith’s, who died from a drug overdose in 2013, and Naya Rivera’s, who accidentally drowned at Lake Piru, California in July 2020.
Morris, who played Brittany in the Fox series, told her Twitter followers that, when mourning her co-stars, it is “tough to have to act” like Salling didn’t exist.
In the controversial post, she said: "We did not loose just two cast members, we lost three. And it is SO incredible tough to have to act like that third one is invisible, because even though his actions are unjustifiable, he was a part of our family at one point and he was mentally SICK. Yes pedophelia is a sickness but… [sic]”
Morris was widely criticised for her words.
“To all those who felt triggered by my message, I want to sincerely apologise for the harm I caused,” she wrote in a follow-up message that addressed the backlash.
“Whether you, a friend, a family member has been a victim of paedophilia, I realise my words may have been insensitive to your experience and for that I can’t express enough how sorry I am.”
— heather (@HeatherMorrisTV) December 22, 2020
The actor posted the original message shortly after Kevin McHale, who played Artie in the series, retweeted stills from one of the show’s Christmas-themed episode. In the images, Salling’s face had been covered up with a vomiting emoji, which Morris branded “offensive”.
Salling played Puck in the FOX series, which ran for six seasons from May 2009 to March 2015.
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