Premiering back in 2009, 'Glee' very quickly became a huge success not least with thanks to its covers of famous pop songs and its young cast, who have now each become stars in their own rights.
But, as with all things, what goes up must come down, and unfortunately that now seems to be the case with the musical series. 'Glee', which is the fruit of the combined efforts of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck, began losing audiences around its 3rd season. Viewership dropped from 11 million in its first two years, to just 7 million, and from there the figure plummeted even further to only 2 million viewers in the show's last 2 seasons. 'Glee' finally bade us farewell in 2015, having fallen from 33rd place in the list of most watched TV shows of all time to 148th.
The show's huge decline in popularity almost mirrors what was going on behind the scenes at the time. During its six season run, 'Glee' was overshadowed by various controversies and tragedies that threatened its optimistic and energetic mood. Even though the show ended more than 2 years ago, that bad luck seems to have followed the cast and has since earned the name: the 'Glee' curse. The death of Mark Salling on 30th January, after having been found guilty of being in the possession of child pornography, is just the latest scandal to surround the show.
The father figure that should've done less
Once the show had ended, Ryan Murphy spoke out over working on 'Glee' highlighting how it was both the best and worst experience of his life. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy mentioned how "I wish I could go back and do that differently with a lot of those actors. Some of them I'm still very close to: Lea Michele, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss - but there were some that didn't work out well, and I regret that. I guess I just wish I had been able to let them figure it out for themselves... I thought they wanted a parent, and they didn't".
Take a look for yourselves at the 'Glee' curse here:
Cory Monteith
'Glee' was hit hard back in 2013 with the death of actor Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson in the series. An autopsy report concluded that the actor had overdosed on heroine and alcohol in his hotel room in Vancouver, where he was later found. Monteith had been quite open about his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, but his death still came as a shock, not least for his girlfriend and co-star Lea Michele who was swiftly overtaken by depression. 'Glee' continued without the actor, paying homage to him in the first episode of the 5th season (the first to air following his death) and again in the series finale.
Naya Rivera
Naya Rivera, or Santana Lopez on the show, already had a violent history but that appeared to come to a head during her time on 'Glee'. It was revealed that Rivera and the late Mark Salling had a secret relationship with one another whilst working on the show. Despite not being exclusive, Rivera grew jealous of the other women with whom Salling chose to spend his time. Her jealousy drove her to vandalise Salling's car by scratching and egging it.
The violence doesn't end there however, for back in November 2017, the actress was arrested for assaulting her husband Ryan Dorsey by hitting him in both the head and face. Dorsey telephoned the police who charged the actress with domestic violence. Rivera was released on bail and 2 months later Dorsey dropped the charges.
Naya vs. Lea
It's rumoured that Ryan Murphy wanted to dedicate a season of his anthology series 'Feud' to the rivalry between Naya Rivera and Lea Michele. In 2016, the former released a memoir titled 'Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up', in which she revealed some shocking truths about her castmates. In her book, Rivera confirmed the feud between herself and Michele: "as the show progressed, though, that friendship started to break down, especially as Santana moved from a background character to one with bigger plot lines and more screen time. I think Rachel - erm, I mean Lea - didn't like sharing the spotlight." The actress continued that Michele went on to ignore her before not speaking to her at all for season 6. "Lea and I definitely weren't the best of friends, and I doubt we'll ever sit on her couch and eat kale together again."
The GQ Scandal
In 2010, Lea Michele, Dianna Agron and Cory Monteith appeared in a sexy photoshoot in GQ magazine in order to promote the show. The images received backlash for hyper-sexualising the underage characters in a publication aimed at adult men. Despite Michele and Agron being 24 and Monteith 28 at the time, the fact that their school-aged characters posed scantily clad did not sit well with many who accused GQ of promoting paedophillia. Shortly after the magazine's publication, Dianna Agron took to her blog to apologise.
Leaked Photos
Back in 2014, a number of celebrities were the victims of a phone hack which published some of their most intimate photos on the internet. 'Glee' actresses Lea Michele, Becca Tobin and Melissa Benoist were all affected but Heather Morris was the only one who voiced a reaction: "At least I look good!"
Nancy Motes & Jim Fuller
Following the death of Cory Monteith, 'Glee' suffered yet another loss when production assistant Nancy Motes (half sister to Julia Roberts) committed suicide in 2014. Shortly after, Jim Fuller, the show's assistant director, passed away after suffering a heart attack. 'Glee' lost 3 team members in just one year.
Becca Tobin
Becca Tobin joined 'Glee' in the show's 4th season to portray cheerleader Kitty Wilde. In June 2014, the actress' 35 year old boyfriend, Matt Bendik was announced dead in his hotel room in Philadelphia. Both Bendik and Tobin were on a business trip when the incident occurred and it was revealed the former suffered from a heart attack brought on by the stress of expanding his business.
Domestic Violence
In 2011, Dianna Agron, or Quinn Fabray in the series, broke up with her boyfriend at the time, Alex Pettyfer who she met when filming for 'I am Number Four'. According to US Weekly, Pettyfer didn't take well to the break and supposedly began behaving in a threatening manner towards Agron including harassing her over the telephone. Things escalated so much that the actress had to hideaway from him. A representative for Pettyfer has denied the claims, but a source close to the both of them confirmed to US Weekly that the actor was very much a "psycho loose cannon" and that Agron was terrified of him.
Mark Salling
Mark Salling, known by Gleeks as Noah 'Puck' Puckerman committed suicide on 30th January at just 35 years old. Salling was announced dead on a riverbank near his home in Sunland, a residential area of Los Angeles. The actor was awaiting a prison sentence after being found guilty of being the in the possession of child pornography. Just two years ago, police found more than 50,000 pornographic images and 600 videos of children in Salling's home. For his crimes, the actor was looking at a sentence of inbetween 4 and 6 years, the sentencing for which was due to take place in March 2018.
In 2013, Salling was also charged with sexual assault by his girlfriend at the time. The actor was ordered to pay out $2.7 million.
