Almost 2 Years After Emma Roberts Awkwardly Avoided Denying The Viral Rumor That Lea Michele Can't Read, Keke Palmer Had An Admirable Response To The Entire Thing

Keke Palmer has just addressed the viral conspiracy theory that her former Scream Queens costar Lea Michele cannot read.

If you’re somehow out of the loop, allow me to get you up to speed: Back in 2017, the hosts of the One More Thing podcast, Jaye Hunt and Robert Ackerman, sparked a now-viral rumor that Lea can’t read or write.

While discussing an anecdote about Lea allegedly refusing to improvise scenes on Glee, the pair speculated that this might’ve been the case because she was memorizing lines ahead of time that had been read aloud to her.

The internet quickly took this theory and ran with it, and before long, Lea was poking fun at the conspiracy theory herself.

Reposting a message from a fan who had referenced the joke, Lea wrote, “Loved READING this tweet and wanted to WRITE you back😛 literally laughing out loud at all this😂 love you!!! 😘❤️"

Well, the theory continued to spiral, with fans scouring the internet for more so-called “evidence” of Lea's literacy skills. Like, people made full-on compilation videos of the actor seemingly hesitating while announcing the winners at award shows.

It’s worth noting that while the podcast hosts who sparked the theory have always maintained that it was playful, several people have grown to deem the jokes about Lea’s literacy problematic. In fact, actor Jameela Jamil branded the whole thing “ableist” in a lengthy message a couple of years ago, shortly after Lea admitted that she found the rumor misogynistic.

Lea did, however, continue to joke about the subject online later that year.

Last January, fans found themselves discussing the viral theory once again after Lea’s former Scream Queens costar Emma Roberts addressed it in a pretty awkward way.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Emma was asked by host Andy Cohen, “The biggest misconception is that [Lea] can’t read, right?”

Instead of denying the rumor there and then, Emma laughed awkwardly and said, “Well… I mean… We’ve not been in a book club together!” Unsurprisingly, this wound up sparking a heap of fresh comments about Lea’s ability to read.

But now, fellow Scream Queens alum Keke has seemingly set the record straight in a new interview.

Appearing on The Toast podcast this week amid the release of her new book, Master of Me, Keke was asked about the long-running conspiracy theory — and, surprisingly, it seems as though she’d never heard it before.

After the podcast hosts explained the origins of the theory, Keke said, “Damn, that’s crazy. Why do people do this stuff?”

The hosts then asked Keke if she’d ever seen Lea “reading a book on set.” After a long pause, Keke admitted that she hadn’t — though she quickly pointed out that people probably hadn’t seen her reading a book on set herself.

“I’ve never seen her reading, but I know that she can,” she clarified. “I mean, dang, I know that she can read, y’all.”

“She’s got to… Y’all know the girl can read!” she added, with the podcast hosts noting that Keke has officially “debunked” the viral theory.

Well, there we have it. Can you think of other super random — but super viral — conspiracy theories about celebrities? LMK down below! Meanwhile, you can listen to Keke’s full appearance on The Toast podcast here, and you can order her new book, Master of Me, here.

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