Lea Michele has apologised to Samantha Marie Ware after being accused of "tormenting" her former 'Glee' co-star

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Lea continued: "What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people.

"One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people's perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices that they face."

Lea came under fire from her former co-star shortly after she expressed her support for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

She explained: "When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbours and communities of colour during this really difficult time, but the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behaviour towards fellow cast members was perceived by them."

Following her original tweet, Samantha replied: "LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD "'S**T IN MY WIG!' AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD... (sic)."

Lea apologised for her past failings and pledged to "grow and change".

She said: "While I don't remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or colour of their skin, that's not really the point.

"What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people.

"Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologise for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused.

"We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings."

The Hollywood star - who is currently preparing for the arrival of her first child with Zandy Reich - is determined to be seen as a "real role model".

She said: "I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me.

"I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience."