Actress and singer Lea Michele has found love with a new man, and she couldn’t be happier, talking to the Fempire podcast about her new man, Matthew Paetz. Lea hasn’t had a boyfriend since the tragic death of her Glee co-star and off-screen mate Cory Monteith, who died of a drug overdose in July of 2013.
The 29-year-old actress, who played a convincingly crazy sorority sister on Ryan Murphy’s horror anthology Scream Queens, met the 30-year-old actor/model on the set of the music video for her song “On My Way” back in April of last year. Since she began posting images with him on her Instagram account (like this recent photo, captioned “Cheers! 2016 I’m loving you so far!”), she’s been the subject of criticism from fans and followers.
Lea told the podcast, “people are always trying to bring me back” and went on to say that although she loved her fans, it’s also difficult for her to face backlash. “They’re incredible and they were really a part of my whole story and my whole journey with me, so I do come from a place of understanding, but it’s also really hard. You know, every time I post a picture, then it’s just a landslide of comments that talk about my past and bring that up rather than projecting positivity.”
While Lea tries to move on from Cory, Matthew has been incredibly supportive and understanding. She commented, “We’ve stood by each other through anything that was thrown our way. He’s such a great man that he would never really let anything like that ever crack our lovely little core that we’ve created.” She went on to add that “He is very respectful towards the person that I was with, and that, again, is something I love so much about him.” And, in what is sure to further annoy her critics, Lea concluded with, “I really know that Cory would love him too.”
I’m not a big fan of Lea’s, but the woman has every right to move on without suffering from any kind of harassment. Cory won’t be forgotten, but Lea is young and most likely has a long career ahead of her. She deserves happiness just like the rest of us. They make a cute couple, and I wish them the best.
photo credit: WENN.com
For all anyone knows she and Cory could have broken up if he had lived. I think she needs to stop talking about Cory in relationship to her new relationships. I don’t mean to discount their time together; but she has to move on and hold that time dear to herself; not as the torch barer of his life. He has his family to do that.
This.
Upon simply reading the headline, I was prepared to say that it seemed pretty gross that she was still bringing Cory up. But I don’t think she’s the one doing it, upon reading the article. It sounds like people act like she should still be grieving over her lost love with Cory every time she posts a picture with her new boyfriend, and that’s terrible and unfair. I think she’s just addressing that here. However, the specific “I think Cory would love him too” line still grates on me a bit.
I think she would if the comments weren’t something that was prevalent and recent. She’s been pretty quiet on the Cory front and I really think she has been trying to move forward. She can’t mourn forever and she deserves to be happy
He looks a bit like Brian Austin Green
I never cared for this women or her self serving diva ways. After Corey’s death, I felt she commanded the attention as the widowed martyred wife, which she wasn’t. Had Corey lived, I am quite sure they wouldn’t be together. Heath Ledger’s wife was eloquent when he died. She handled herself with grace and wasn’t camera seeking. She carried on with her life with dignity and was, in fact, Heath’s widow and mother of his little Matilda. Take notes Leah, this is how you do it. It’s not always about you. I hope Glee fans don’t come after me, it’s just my feelings towards this girl.
This! +1
I don’t know what you are talking about, this girl went into hiding immediately after Cory’s death and has mentioned it very rarely. Idk man, you all are harsh.
I like Michelle Williams, but I disagree. She talked about Heath in interviews for years after his death and played the widow, but she and Heath had been broken up for a while when he died.
raptor: Heath’s demons drove them apart, not his love for her. His parents stood by her and Matilda and considered her family. It wasn’t till some time after his death that she publically spoke of it. She was hounded by the paps. They were a real couple, not a tv show co-star hook-up. @Kai…I didn’t realize they weren’t married, but they were in fact a couple with a child. Angie and Brad weren’t married for years but were still a committed couple, as for all intents and purposes were Heath and Michelle, albeit for a short time.
But how is that not what they’re doing to Lea Michele, who was still in a relationship with Corey when he died, and who also lost someone because of his demons?
Sorry, wrong place.
You know, I don’t think you get to decide how somebody else should grieve. And just as a sidenote, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams were never maried and in fact broke up before he died.
This this this. I hate when people condemn other peoples way of coping and grieving over loved ones. When my dad died last year I was pretty stoic about it and people would not stop giving me shit over it. It’s just how I deal, quietly. Some people chose to be open about it. Let her be. Loss is so hard.
Dani: Sorry about your father. I simply don’t care for Leah Michele. They were not dating at the time of his overdose and death. She’s not a good actress, but came across as Jackie Kennedy. I found it embarrassing and disrespectful to play the grieving widow when she wasn’t. Oh where is Joan Rivers when you need her…….she did the best Leah on a red carpet with the mouth open and blowing kisses like she won an Oscar. Good for her on a new romance, but leave Corey out of it. New boyfriends tend to be the ones that need the attention.
Nancy, I think the whole point is that fans are the ones who keep bringing him up, not her. At some point she felt she needed to address the backlash she’s getting. Good for her. She can’t be expected to spend the rest of her life alone because someone she loved died.
Michelle and Heath were never married. And um, based on a couple of articles about her as well as the scathing commentary of several posters, plenty of people think she totally milked the grieving widow angle. Fact is. Michelle and Heath were broken up at the time of his death. He was dating someone else. Gemma Ward I think. Someone, correct me if I’m wrong.
Nope, you’re right. Gemma Ward.
I Choose Me: Ok. But how do you feel about Leah? She is such a drama queen imo. I didn’t mean to turn this into a Michele Williams thread.
I totally agree about how Michelle Williams handled Heath Ledger’s death. I thought it was very unfair, how during the time she was nominated for an Oscar for the Marilyn movie, some bloggers argued she was using Heath’s death to sway voters, but I just never caught that vibe.I think she was asked questions about how his death affected her and her child and she answered those questions as honestly as she could. She is raising his child after all and for the most part, she lives a low key life.
I thought she had another boyfriend before this one?
I thought I was going crazy. It’s not the same guy, is it? Because there was definitely someone over the summer or something.
This might be a new guy. I swear she started to dated a guy almost a couple months after Corey died. And in the intro to this it says these two started in April of 2015.
You are not crazy which is why I laughed at this. She was dating some model or something for a while. There were all of these canyon shots of them several months after Cory died. Whatever Lea Michelle.
Lea Michele is one of the most irritating celebrities out there, but, in her defense, she didn’t start dating anyone a couple of months after Cory died–at least not publicly. I believe the photos you are referring to are of Michele and Jonathan Groff, who bats for the other team (pretty sure he was in a long-term relationship with Zachary Quinto, in fact). They use to get papped together all the time.
This is the same guy, Matthew Paetz. There was a big PR push until his “dating specialist” past got revealed and then the press around them started to die down a bit.
Riiight. He was the gigolo!
Well I’m definitely in the annoyed camp. Girl, hush. You can’t know such a thing. I don’t understand why when some people are talking about the loss of someone they love(d). They trot out trite, maudlin, insipid statements like that.
Seems people want her to feel guilty for moving on which is so messed up. But it also seems she’s another one those celebs that have to have people like her. So much try. Girl, you’re talented. You’re attractive. Go do you, love who you love and stop pandering to the critics.
Well, I don’t think she’s milking the situation until now. I think people keep bringing it up in interviews and she’s rightfully complaining about something completely legitimate. She must have suffered a great deal after his death, and was pretty quiet on the dating front ever since (I think she dated someone before this guy, but still). She’s not in every cover of magazine 2 years later talking about how she’s trying to move on. She’s moved on, she’s posting pics of her new man, she’s happy. People shouldn’t be expecting her to be Courtney Love and always be known as someone’s girlfriend.
I think she’s extremely talented and should go back to Broadway, or tv shows that showcase her singing talent, because no matter how annoying she might be, she’s very, very good. I wish her the best.
Ps- her man is kinda hot.
Exactly!
She definitely has the right to be happy. But everything she does just comes across as so thirsty to me – I cannot abide her at all.
A girl in the podcast said how she has huge stars knocking on her door to be her friends but she resists them and does not engage.
I can’t stand her. Never could. I get the feeling she would mow down a group of grandmas on their way to church to get a role. Btw, that dude is SO TALL. Hotness.
She absolutely should have a chance to move on. Aso I listened to the podcast and one of the girls referred to her as A list and she just rolled with it. In what world??
Is this really news? These 2 started dating in 2014 and then became pretty quiet press-wise after the whole “dating specialist” mess. I guess it’s time to give to give the relationship’s pr a full court press again.
How long was she dating Corey? She’s acting like they were in a very long romance and were about to get married. If he had lived, they probably would have broken up soon after and moved on to other people. Why would he have cared who she was dating? Does she have to always mention Corey’s name?
It sounds like Glee fans badger her about Corey.
Well if that’s true, that’s really sad. Do Glee fans know the show is no longer on the air for God’s sake?
I thought she was sort of put in the position of talking about Corey over this period of time, because they were both on the same show. It might have been easier for her not to address the coupling in the press if they hadn’t been on Glee (as also a couple?)
It seems like she’s moving on with her life and would prefer to talk about her current happiness (if posting pics on Instagram are any indication), but it seems like fans of the show won’t let it go. She’s clearly saying she’s happy with her new man, and doesn’t appear to be dating secretly while invoking Corey’s name.
She dated Cory for less than a year. They weren’t engaged. They weren’t married. But she continues to bring up his name. It is desperate and disrespectful.
I am so disappointed in her. Her true family name is Sarfati, which is a tunisian Jewish name. She changed it to Michele when she began making castings to not be related or asked about her origins. Even the Kardashians kept their Armenian name and doing publicity for the Armenian heritage.
Anyway, just my opinion. ..
Meh, people change their names all the time when they go to Hollywood. Norma Jean Baker ring a bell?
+1
Tons of celebrities use stage names, and not because they are trying to obscure their roots or deceive people. Paul Wesley changed his name from Paul Wasilewski; Natalie Portman’s real last name is Hershlag; Demi Moore is actually Demetria Guynes; Sophia Loren = Scicolone; Mindy Kaling’s last name was Chokalingam, etc.
The common thread is that the names are hard to spell and/or pronounce. My own last name falls along those lines. So I somewhat sympathize. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to be a celebrity (think Idina Menzel and Saoirse Ronan): Having to constantly correct tens of hundreds of people, all whilst gritting your teeth and maintaining a smile.
ETA: Additionally, Winona Ryder is actually Winona Horowitz; Woody Allan’s given name is Allan Stewart Konigsberg; Jon Stewart = Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz. It goes on and on.
Alison Brie did the exact same thing as Lea Michele. Born Alison Brie Schermerhorn, she dropped her last name entirely and simply uses her first and middle now.
She’s an idiot. As if she and Cory were a real couple to begin with or that he would give 2 cents about whom she dates. Give it up, Thirstay
I cried my eyes out when Cory died. Just as a fan of Glee at the time and I was pregnant so maybe hormones, but I was really really sad.
That being said, it sounds like fans won’t let Rachel+Finn go to Lea. It’s been several years since they were together. She is young, and she deserves to love again. I would be so annoyed if I were her to have random people constantly commenting on my posts/photos/asking me about my dead ex boyfriend. I wish her the best.
She is so thirsty.