Beanie Feldstein Actually Doesn't Know Who Lea Michele Is

Here’s a delectable tidbit of unintentional rudeness born from the fertile ground of Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio show: Beanie Feldstein, currently starring as Monica Lewinsky on American Crime Story: Let’s Relive the Very Recent Past, literally did not know who Lea Michele was or why she was trending when the news of Feldstein as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl was announced this summer.

“You got that part and Lea Michele started trending on Twitter because everyone knew that she wanted the part,” Cohen said to Feldstein, as Annaleigh Ashford issued a silent scream and Sarah Paulson raised an eyebrow. “Have you, like, has there been any correspondence between you guys yet?”

“I don’t even know that any of this was happening, by the way,” Feldstein said, demonstrating what I assume is a healthy relationship with social media. “I didn’t understand. But, she very sweetly wrote on my Instagram. I don’t know the woman whatsoever.”

Gorgeous. Beautiful. Incredible. Beanie Feldstein actually didn’t know who Lea Michele was, and that shriek that ripped through the skies is the sound of Lea Michele looking into a mirror, and engaging in her self-soothing practice, which is to alternate verses of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” with primal screams.

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The reason Lea Michele’s name started trending on Twitter is because one time Lea Michele played a character named Rachel Berry on Glee, and her obsession with both Funny Girl and Fanny Brice were occasionally used as substitutes for an actual personality. Ryan Murphy, the bald demon king whose entertainment empire knows no bounds, had also acquired the rights to Funny Girl in 2015. Everyone assumed that the role was Michele’s because she played a character on television who was obsessed with the role, but that’s not how the cookie crumbles. In 2017, after some distance from her role as Rachel on Glee, Michele even said to Andy Cohen, “I feel really ready to do it now so maybe we could do it soon.” 

Beanie will do her best “I’m a Noo Yawkah, I’m walkin’, I’m tawkin’ heah” on Broadway, and Lea Michele, if she is gracious (she might be), will watch politely from the audience, sitting on her hands, resisting the urge to run up on Feldstein and make every song a duet. [Just Jared]

Here’s just one good TikTok.

• Mrs. William Eyelash met Prince William and Kate Middleton and said of their meeting: “I can’t complain.” [Page Six]
• Howie Mandel fainted at a Starbucks, but don’t worry, he’s fine! [Us Weekly]
• Okay, Karen Hinton (former aide to Bill DeBlasio and Andrew Cuomo) wrote a book called Penis Politics, and has something to say in said book about Papa Mozzarella’s affinity for “titties.” [Page Six]
• Zachary Quinto went for a walk. [Just Jared]