On Friday, it was announced that Matthew Morrison was fired from So You Think You Can Dance because he did not follow “production protocols.” So, that caused people to wonder what protocol did he break.
Then on Tuesday, People reported from sources that the actor was let go due to flirtatious DMs to a female contestant.
Today, the Glee star took to Instagram to defend himself by reading the DM he sent to the contestant. He explained that he and the dancer know the same choreographer, and he reached out to the contestant to get that choreographer’s number so that she could be a choreographer on the show.
But that is not what the DM said. Morrison read the DM, and he says it says, “Hey, it’s Matthew. If you don’t mind, would love to get your number and talk you through some things.”
You don’t have to work on a competition show to know that judges are not supposed to reach out to any contestant for any reason. We learned that from sitcoms like Night Court and Designing Women. Actually, didn’t Glee do that storyline?
Anyways, if that is the DM Morrison sent, I can kind of see where the dancer might have assumed he was coming on to her by saying, can I have your number so we can talk about how I can help you win the show.
That is why you have to be so careful when you send DMs to someone you don’t know because they can’t read the tone. He should’ve said, “Hi, it’s Mattew. Is there any way you have our choreographer friend’s number? I would like to call her and see if she is interested in being a choreographer on the show.”
Then she would’ve known what he meant. Either way, he should not have contacted her because that is playing favorites. And if the scandal was exposed, then it could be really bad for the show.
So the moral of the story is judges on competition shows don’t ever reach out to any contestants when the show is in production. However, after the contestant is eliminated or if they win the show, then you can reach out to them.
Morrison will be seen on next week’s pre-taped episode, and then for the live shows starting on June 15th, we will see a new judge in his place.
