RuPaul: Lip Sync Battle is ‘ripping off’ gay culture for straight people
RuPaul has slammed the hit TV show Lip Sync Battle – for “ripping off” the format of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Lip Sync Battle, which launched last year, features a line-up of celebrity guests lip-syncing to well known songs in the style of the artist, and frequently cross-dressing.
A number of big stars have appeared on the show – with Channing Tatum memorably dragging up for ‘Let It Go’, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt pulled off a flawless Janet Jackson tribute.
However, RuPaul has accused the show of “ripping off” the idea from his Logo series RuPaul’s Drag Race, which has featured drag queens in lip sync battles since its inception in 2009.
Asked what he thinks of the show in a Vulture interview, he said: “Oh, I don’t think of it.”
He explained: “It’s a poor ripoff of our show. Regular, straight pop culture has liberally lifted things from gay culture as long as I can remember.
“And that’s fine, because guess what? We have so much more where that comes from. Take it!
“That’s why [my new gameshow] Gay for Play is such a fun thing, because we’ve taken the best of the gay sensibility and put it all in one place.”
He added: “We’re showing these b****es how it’s really done. But it’s funny how that works, even in gay culture.
“There’s a certain ‘gay shame’. Gay people will accept a straight pop star over a gay pop star, or they will accept a straight version of a gay thing, because there’s still so much self-loathing, you know?”
He added: “They talk so much about acceptance now today and it’s like, yes, but trust me — I’m old and I know this s**t — it’s superficial.
“Because as soon as the lights go out, you’ll see how advanced people’s thinking is. This so-called ‘Will & Grace acceptance’ era is just people f***ing posing. Things haven’t changed that much.”
