Breaking his silence. Matthew Morrison addressed the “devastating” allegations against him after he was fired from So You Think You Can Dance — and he didn’t hold back.
“It’s really unfortunate to have to sit here and defend myself and my family against blatantly untrue statements made anonymously,” the Glee alum, 43, began in a video uploaded via Instagram on Thursday, June 2. He captioned the footage, “Just to clarify,” appearing to limit the comments on the post.
Morrison continued, “I have nothing to hide, so in the interest of transparency, I will read to you the one message that I wrote to a dancer on the show: ‘Hey, it’s Matthew. If you don’t mind, would love to get your number and talk you through some things.’ The end.”
The Broadway vet put down his phone, claiming that he reached out to the dancer in question “because we both share a mutual respect for a choreographer” that he’s known for many years. “I was trying to help her get a job as a choreographer on the show,” he said, shaking his head.
Us Weekly exclusively confirmed on Friday, May 27, that Morrison was leaving the Fox dance competition less than one week after it kicked off its 17th season. “Having the opportunity to be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance was an incredible honor for me,” the California native noted in a statement, acknowledging that he “did not follow competition production protocols, preventing me from being able to judge the competition fairly.”
The Younger alum vowed that he would continue to watch “alongside you all on what I know will be one of the best seasons yet.”
At the time, a source told Us that Morrison’s exit was due to a minor infraction. A second insider later revealed that the actor was accused of sending “inappropriate” texts to a female contestant.
“The messages contained sexual innuendos and were flirty to the extent he was overstepping boundaries,” the source told Us, noting that the network planned to investigate the situation further. “He didn’t have sex with the contestant, but she complained to producers about him because the messages made her feel uncomfortable and awkward and then they took it to HR.”
While addressing the rumored scandal on Thursday, Morrison said, “It’s devastating that we live in this world where gossip rules and people’s lives are being thrown around as clickbait. I think this is much bigger than me. … Gossip is toxic and is destroying our society, and we need to do better. In no way do I want this to take away from the show because dance has always been a unifying and healing modality. I genuinely wish all the contestants and my fellow judges all the best.”
Morrison was cast alongside JoJo Siwa and Stephen “tWitch” Boss, replacing longtime SYTYCD experts Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy. A new judge has not yet been announced.
