Euphoria star Lukas Gage receives grovelling apology from director who trashed his ‘tiny’ apartment in viral video

Lukas Gage

Lukas Gage received an apology from director Tristram Shapeero, after he was caught calling the star “poor”.

Tristram Shapeero came forward after Lukas Gage shared a video of a Zoom audition in which the director, apparently thinking he was muted, began talking about “these poor people in these tiny apartments”.

Gage, known for appearing in queer series Euphoria and Love, Victor, didn’t name the director when sharing the clip, but Shapeero has now apologised for his “insensitive remarks”.

“First and foremost I offer Mr Gage a sincere and unvarnished apology for my offensive words, my unprofessional behaviour during the audition and for not giving him the focus and attention he deserved,” Shapeero wrote for Deadline.

“My job is to evaluate performers against the part I am trying to cast. Lukas deserved better.”

The director, whose credits include The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, insisted he used the word poor “in the sense of deserving sympathy, as opposed to any economic judgment”.

“It was emotional to see actors work so hard to win the few parts available and we were deeply moved by the passion of these young people under the extraordinary circumstances,” he wrote, adding: “My words were being spoken from a genuine place of appreciation for what the actors were having to endure, stuck in confined spaces, finding it within themselves to give a role-winning performance under these conditions.”

He reiterated that he is “mortified” by the incident, and promised to “move forward from this incident a more empathetic man”.

Lukas Gage wins Hollywood support after Tristram Shapeero video.

In Lukas Gage’s video, Tristram Shapeero is taken aback when Gage responds to his comments saying: “I know it’s a sh*tty apartment, that’s why give me this job so I can get a better one.”

He is heard apologising in the clip, which Gage captioned with: “Psa if you’re a s**t talking director make sure to mute ur s**t on Zoom meetings.”

Gage was met with an outpouring of support from fellow actors, including Billy Eichner, who wrote: “Actors are often (not always but often) treated like garbage and taken advantage of because ‘we’re just lucky to have a job’ and ‘we’re gonna take the job anyway’ etc etc. It’s very f**ked up.”

Russell Tovey who wrote: “You sir are a legend.”

The legandary Leslie Joran commented: “Well played, Lukas. So much class for a young man.”

Glee star Amber Riley added: “Good on you. I wouldn’t have been so kind LOL.”

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