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Matthew Morrison attends the 5th Annual NRF Foundation Gala.
A for-television production of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” airs December 9 at 8pm ET on NBC, starring Matthew Morrison as the Grinch. In spite of Morrison’s impressive resume, with many Broadway and television credits, he’s been the recipient of some social media criticism and teasing in advance of his performance in the live holiday-themed musical.
While there have been many jokes and memes on Twitter about Morrison’s upcoming portrayal of the Grinch, the Matthew Morrison “hate” started long before his attachment to the live musical was announced.
On the popular app TikTok, Morrison is the source of many trending jokes, most of which poke fun at his Glee character, high school teacher and glee club director Will Schuester. Numerous viral videos on the app share clips of Morrison performing as Schuester, joking that the song and dance numbers should be considered “hate crimes” or including a “trigger warning” to let viewers know that Morrison is in the video before they watch it.
Other users have used Morrison’s character to trick viewers in a joke format that mimics being “Rick Rolled.” At the end of the video, they’ll surprise the viewer with a clip of Morrison’s character Will Schuester, saying they’ve been “Schuestered” for falling for the prank.
Much of Social Media Hate for Morrison Is Directed at His ‘Glee’ Character Will Schuester
Morrison’s viral status on TikTok and Twitter seems to be the result of an influx of people binge-watching Glee during the quarantine. The popular show, which was created by Ryan Murphy, ended in 2015, but has become popular again since it’s available to watch on Netflix.
If you are unfamiliar with the Matthew Morrison-related social media jokes before stumbling upon one, you might be wondering if Morrison was the latest celebrity to get “canceled” over a scandal – that’s not the case. Glee fans are outraged and disturbed by some of the songs and actions the fictional Will Schuester got away with on the show. They are not mad at Morrison himself (though he is the intended target for the jokes).
TikTok users, in rewatching Glee, have humorously pointed out how bizarre it was for a high school teacher to perform songs like “Thong Song,” “Toxic,” and “Bust a Move” with his underaged students. They’ve also called out the writers of the show for writing an episode in which Schuester directs a production of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and even performs in it with his students.
One TikTok user, @mic.tok, even created a series of videos in which they give a PowerPoint presentation on “Evidence I Would Present in the Criminal Trial of Will Schuester.”
Morrison Has Been Called Out for His Dance Moves & Social Media Posts
Although Matthew Morrison hasn’t done anything controversial in the public eye, that hasn’t protected him from being the recipient of online teasing for things he has posted to social media and other performances he has given separately from his role on Glee.
On TikTok, it is known as “getting Schuestered” if you click on a video only to discover that, at its conclusion, there is a video of Morrison dancing. Some videos also include surprise photos of Morrison, both in character and as himself.
In the comments section of a recent Instagram post, in which Morrison is singing and playing guitar, one user came to his defense for the unjustified hate he’s been getting. The user wrote, “People need to learn to separate the actor from the character. If you didn’t like mr [Schuester] because he sometimes was too close with his students that had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with Matt, spread love not hate.”
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