“Drag Race” controversies outshine its 15th season Beloved show known more for its drama than its positive representation

By Erin Malinn Feature Editor

“Rupaul’s Drag Race” has served as a platform for the LGBTQ+ community for over a decade, representing contestants of all backgrounds and identities. Though the show has allowed for positive LGBTQ+ representation in the media, the press has not always been optimistic. With the premiere of its 15th season on Jan. 6, long-time fans are reminded of the many controversies that have been attached to the show.

Season nine finalist Peppermint confessed to her fellow contestants that she identified as a transgender woman during her season in 2018, receiving nothing but support. After the season aired, however, Rupaul denounced transgender contestants in an interview with The Guardian, explaining how entering the show after receiving gender-affirming surgery and hormones can be classified as “cheating”. The backlash to these comments recieved as little as an emotionless apology on Twitter.

“You can identify as a woman and say you’re transi- tioning, but it changes once you start changing your body”, he said. “You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics.”

Like many reality and competition shows, “Rupaul’s Drag Race” has been accused of cutting clips together to forge scenes for drama and views— what many fans refer to as the “villain edit.” Multiple contestants have received excessive hate after the airing of their season because they have been depicted as overly rude and outspoken by the editors. Season four finalist Phi Phi O’Hara serves as one of the biggest examples of the villain edit. Her appearance was almost entirely consumed by a feud with winner, Sharon Needles, though this feud was confirmed to be planned by the two contestants. O’Hara’s appearance on “Rupaul’s Drag Race: All Stars”—a spinoff to the original series—was no different, feuding with season five contestant Alyssa Edwards rather than Needles.

“It’s like watching a completely different show,” O’Hara said in an interview with the Vulture. “It’s nothing like what happened on set.”

Season 12 of “Rupaul’s Drag Race” was forced through a different setup than other seasons, ending shooting while the pandemic began. While this only affected the final two episodes, much of the footage had to be relooked after accusations of one of the contestants came to light. Sherrie Pie—who had almost made it to the end of the competition—was disqualified from the show after being accused of impersonating a casting director to solicit explicit audition tapes from five different men. Pie, born as Joey Gugliemelli, manipulated five young aspiring actors to act out degrading and embar- rassing things for a fake audition process. The season aired with a disclaimer at the beginning of every episode to ensure an understanding of her disqualification, stating that the season was filmed before the accusations came out. Reality shows become consumed by drama, hanging onto it to stay on air. “Rupaul’s Drag Race” is no different, its six Emmy wins proof of that. While much of the shows’ drama is placed on screen by editors, a competition setting is known to bring out the worst in people. With over a dozen big personalities on one small set, conflict is unavoidable.