'Glee' creator Ryan Murphy says he had to lie to Madonna about his star sign so she would hire him

• Ryan Murphy said that he lied to Madonna about his star sign so she would hire him.
• He told the "And That's What you REALLY Missed" podcast that he was told she wouldn't hire Scorpios.
• Murphy added that he wasn't sure if it was a joke, but he told the pop singer that he was a Virgo.

"Glee" creator Ryan Murphy said that he lied to Madonna about his star sign so that she would hire him for a job.

In a recent episode of the "And That's What You REALLY Missed" podcast, Murphy, Kevin McHale, and Jenna Ushkowitz looked back at the creation of a "Glee" tribute episode to Madonna in season one.

During the conversation, Murphy said he already had a relationship with the pop star, which gave him access to use her music in the episode.

Murphy said that early on in his career, Lakeshore Entertainment founder Tom Rosenberg reached out to him about a movie with Madonna and Rupert Everett, and that Rosenberg had asked him to interview the "Material Girl" singer about her life and "put those feelings into the script."

"I flew to New York and in the elevator ride up to meet Madonna for the very first time with Tom, he turned to me and said, 'I forgot to ask you, when is your birthday?'" Murphy said. "I said, 'What?' And he said 'When is your birthday?' and I said 'I'm November 9th.' And he goes, 'Are you a Scorpio?' I said, 'Yeah.' And he goes, 'You can't tell that to her, 'cause she won't hire you.'"

He continued: "I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I don't know but just don't say you're a Scorpio. Say you're something else.'" 

Murphy said that the pop singer was "lovely" but the astrological sign question did come up.

"The last question is, 'When were you born?'" Murphy said. "And I gave her my mother's birthday of September 3rd, and she said, 'Oh, a Virgo. Okay.' By the time we got down to the lobby, it became word that I was hired."

Murphy said that he had an "incredible" experience interviewing Madonna for five to six months.

"I had this great experience with her. I cannot say enough good things about Madonna. How nice she was," Murphy added. "I never understood the Scorpio thing, and maybe it was a joke between them but it was funny."

Madonna has reportedly refused to work with people due to their star signs before.

In 2020, David Guetta said during an interview on the Mcfly et Carlito YouTube channel (via the Independent) that Madonna spoke to him about producing her album but turned him down when he revealed he was a Scorpio.

Elsewhere on the "Glee" podcast, Murphy said that Rosenberg loved the first draft of the movie he wrote, and he even helped find a director, John Schlesinger, for it. However, he was fired after Everett disliked the script.

"Next thing I know, Rupert Everett read the draft and was like, 'Um, this is supposed to be a two-hander and I feel the entire thing is now about Madonna's character,'" Murphy said. "I was systematically, after that draft, fired from that project."

The script eventually became the 2000 movie "The Next Best Thing," and despite being rewritten by Tom Ropelewski, Murphy said that some of the elements of his script made it into the final film, such as Madonna playing a yoga teacher.