Glee Stars' Dark Secrets Revealed: Child Pornography, Drug Use and More

We're looking back at all of the shocking cast confessions

By Jess Cohen Oct 05, 2017 6:07 PMTags

When Glee first premiered in May 2009, no one could've ever imagined the secrets that would later be revealed about the cast with the seemingly squeaky clean image.

But over the years, the cast has suffered great loss and made numerous confessions that have stunned fans around the world. On Wednesday, Mark Salling, entered a plea deal in his child pornography case. The actor who portrayed Puck on the Fox series, was charged in a federal indictment with receiving and possessing child pornography back in May 2016. 

And that's just the latest scandal that's been revealed about the cast. Now we're taking a look back at all of the secrets about the group of actors that have taken their fans by surprise over the years.

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Glee's Mark Salling Pleads Guilty in Child Pornography Case
Carin Baer/FOX

While there had been rumblings about cast arguments and set hookups and breakups, the most surprising cast revelation came in 2011 from Cory Monteith, two years before his sudden death. In an interview with Parade, Monteith opened up about his past drug use, admitting in that 2011 interview that he was "lucky to be alive." Monteith dropped out of high school at 16 and entered rehab at 19. Though that didn't stick, he agreed to get clean after he was caught stealing money from a family member. He then found his way to acting and ended up landing the role on Glee.

However, two years later, E! News confirmed that Monteith had checked into rehab in March 2013. He completed his treatment the next month but sadly he passed away in July.

In a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Glee creator Ryan Murphy opened up about Monteith's death. "We hugged, and the last thing he said was; I love you, man, and thank you for helping me get better.' And then the next thing I knew he was dead. It was like losing a child," Murphy said of Monteith's passing.

The show continued after Monteith's death, but ended its run in 2015. Of his time working on the show Murphy told the publication, "What started off as being such a great celebration of love and acceptance ultimately became about darkness and death... It was a great lesson in what not to do moving forward. And many of them are my good friends to this day."

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Cory Monteith's Death: A Timeline of What Lead to the Tragedy
FOX

In 2016, Naya Rivera opened up about her time on Glee in her memoir Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up. In the book, Rivera revealed that she had an abortion during Glee in late 2010. Just weeks after breaking up with now-husband Ryan Dorsey, Rivera learned that she was pregnant. She had the abortion on a day off from working on Glee.

Rivera also discussed tensions on set with co-star Lea Michele in her book and reacted to her ex Salling's child pornography case. The two were dating in the early years of the show and broke up in 2010. "I can't say I was totally shocked, but still–WTF?" Rivera wrote about her ex's case. "My son's nanny actually told me about it when the story broke. Then I had no doubt that God really did have my back along the way."

Looking back on their split, Rivera wrote, "When Mark dumped me, I thought it was the worst thing ever, but can you imagine if that didn't happen? And I was laying there in bed when the battering ram came through the door? I think everyone should have that one relationship where you look back and ask yourself, 'What the hell was I thinking?' You'll learn something and you won't regret it. Unless, of course, that relationship was with someone who had a sizable stash of child porn on his computer. Then, by all means, regret everything."