Matthew Morrison, who is perhaps best known for his role as Will Schuester on the former hit series Glee, has been fired from his judging role on So You Think You Can Dance after sending “inappropriate” messages to a female contestant. Interestingly enough, it was just last week when Matthew said he was “leaving” the competition series for “not following competition production protocols” after filming the season 17 auditions rounds.
But now, it’s been reported that a string of flirtatious messages were sent by the married father-of-two, which had left the contestant feeling so uncomfortable that she decided to raise the issue to producers, who forwarded the complaint to FOX. The matter was investigated and has since led to Matthew’s abrupt departure, with a source noting that he did not have sex with the female, nor did they ever meet privately in person.
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“But he reached out to her through flirty direct messages on social media,” an insider further explained to People. “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.” While it’s believed that the pair did initially engage in a conversation on social media, once things had reportedly “crossed the line,” the unidentified contestant stopped communicating with him altogether.
In a statement made by Matthew last week — before news of his alleged wrongdoings came to light — he had said in a statement, “Having the opportunity to be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance was an incredible honor 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. I cannot apologise enough to all involved and I will be watching alongside you all on what I know will be one of the best seasons yet.”
Matthew was expected to join Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy on the panel for season 17, who were replacing JoJo Siwa and Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss as judges on the latest series, with Cat Deeley returning as the show’s host. It’s unclear who will take over Matthew’s place now that he’s been ousted.
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The California native tied the knot with his longtime partner Renee Puente in 2014, and together they share two children, Revel James, four, and Phoenix, who was born in June 2021. Matthew has yet to address the controversial remarks about the messages he was alleged to have sent a female contestant, but it’s unlikely he’ll want to speak out and draw more attention to the controversy.