Nicole Crowther, the one-time "Glee" extra who was skewered for tweeting a spoiler of the hit show's prom episode and incurred the wrath of co-creator Brad Falchuk, is trying to set the record straight: She did not work the episode in question and heard the information secondhand.
"I had no idea it would blow up like this, I do regret it," she told the Ministry on Monday. Crowther, 21, appeared on only one episode of the show, she said, in 2010. Reports last week had characterized her as working "Glee" regularly, and tweeting after learning the prom king and queen's identity in person.
"I'm afraid my career is in jeopardy -- my career that hasn't even started because of this lie," she said. "Nobody took the time to check the facts. But I do understand why [Falchuk] would be upset ... the truth of the matter is that I wasn't on set."
Crowther, a film student, revealed the cryptic spoiler last week to her nearly 2,000 followers, with whom she had a "Glee"-related rapport. Fans of the show were able to decipher the code, but she said she wasn't even sure if the rumor was true.
Then a Twitter tirade from Falchuk seemed to confirm her speculation: "@nicolecrowther Hope you're qualified to do something besides work in entertainment," he wrote, adding "Who are you to spoil something talented people have spent months to create?"
"That's what surprised me the most," Crowther said. "I was very stunned by what he said to me regarding my career. I honestly think that my heart stopped beating for a minute that he even heard what I said."
So where did Crowther get her info? She said she heard the secret at an April 16 dinner party, from a girl who claimed to have been an extra on the "Glee" prom set the day before -- and it was Falchuk who appeared to confirm its veracity.
"Nobody really knows who I am, I'm just twittering away and he goes on and he confirms it. Only a few people would have heard what I said. And he's the one that spread it even more than I did and seemed to threaten my career." She deactivated her Twitter account soon after.
Now, the actress says she's been blackballed. The extra casting agencies she works through suspended her for two to three weeks, and the agency that casts background specifically for "Glee" told her she'd never again work on the Fox show, or on any show it handles.
Crowther's background gigs are a side job while she pursues training to becoming a director. The Fort Myers, Fla., native is a student at the Los Angeles Feature Film Academy, and has found herself in the background on TV sets including Disney's "Shake It Up," "Kickin' It" and "A.N.T. Farm"; Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush," "Victorious," and "Supah Ninjas"; Fox's "Traffic Light"; and TNT's "Men of a Certain Age." She also worked on the upcoming movies "Prom" and "The Muppets."
The self-proclaimed "Glee" fan had been tweeting about Fox's hit show for about five months, building her following among the Gleek community last October after tweeting that she'd been an extra on the show. She said she's tried to reactivate the account, to no avail, and regrets having deactivating it in the first place, despite knowing that she'd upset a lot of people.
"I deleted it because I thought it would help," but in doing so might have convinced people she was in the wrong. "I shouldn't have deleted it."
"I have nothing to be ashamed of, I have nothing to hide. I'm telling the truth and I'm going to prove that to everyone."
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-- Nardine Saad
twitter.com/NardineSaad
Photo: Actress Nicole Crowther. Credit: Kevin Johnson
