Glee Boss Says: Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith and Lea Michele Are NOT FIRED, But Sam Won't Be Back

The reports of a mass exodus at the end of Glee‘s upcoming third season have apparently been greatly exaggerated to the extreme.

On Sunday morning, Glee co-creator and exec producer Brad Falchuk told the crowd attending San Diego's Comic-Con panel that Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith are NOT being fired from the show upon their characters’ May 2012 “graduation” and that they may very well be back for Season 4, if not beyond.

Here is the statement in his own words as to what he said to the crowd....

“Here’s the exact thing: [Rachel, Kurt and Finn] are seniors, so they’re graduating,” Falchuk explained, “but because they’re graduating doesn’t mean they’re leaving the show. If you have Lea Michele under contract, you don’t say, ‘We’re gonna let you go.’” Plus, the EP pointed out, “A number of the original [cast members' characters] are not graduating this year.”

Falchuk reiterated, “It was never our plan or our intention to let them go…. They are not done with the show after this season.”