Matthew Morrison is telling his side of the story.
After being fired from his judging position on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance on May 27 for not following "competition production protocol," which he previously confirmed in a statement to E! News, the Glee alum gave an explanation for what happened in an Instagram video posted June 2—and it all surrounds a text message.
"It's really unfortunate that to sit here and defend myself and my family against blatantly untrue statements made anonymously, but I have nothing to hide," he said. "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.'"
When the 43-year-old Morrison was fired, it was not immediately clear why the decision had been made, but People later reported that "flirty direct messages on social media" made a contestant on the show feel uncomfortable.
"I sent this because this dancer and I both share a mutual respect for a choreographer that I've known for over 20 years and I was trying to help her get a job as a choreographer on the show," Morrison continued. "It's devastating where we live in this world where gossip rules and people's lives are being thrown around as clickbait."
People reported that Morrison and the contestant never met together off-set.
"I think this is much bigger than me in this story," Morrison concluded. "Gossip is destroying our society and we need to do better and in no way do I want this to take away from the show because dance is always been a unifying and healing modality and I genuinely wish all the contestants in my fellow judges all the best."
The actor was first announced as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance in April, joining fellow newcomer JoJo Siwa and Stephen "tWitch" Boss—a previous runner-up who served as a judge on the show's 15th season in 2018—on the show's new judging panel.
A rep for Fox told E! News that a new judge will be announced before the next round of competition begins on June 15.
So You Think You Can Dance airs on Wednesdays 9 p.m. on Fox.