RuPaul ‘doesn’t see with empathy’ because she’s ‘looking through the eyes of 40 white men’, says Drag Race royalty The Vixen
Drag Race icon The Vixen has criticised RuPaul. (Getty/WOW)
Drag Race icon The Vixen has opened up about her exit from season 10, her relationship with RuPaul and the racist treatment she has received.
The Vixen won a special place in the hearts of fans after walking off the season 10 reunion in protest at what she has often described as racial bias.
As a Black queen, The Vixen was painted as a confrontational force in the Drag Race werk room, particularly when she rubbed up against Eureka.
Famously, she told RuPaul: “Everybody’s telling me how I should react but nobody’s telling her how to act,” before exiting the stage.
In the years since The Vixen has continued to be an advocate for Black queens – with her BlackGirlMagic project winning praise from the Obama Foundation, and has become an outspoken critic of the franchise.
In a new interview with the Back From Reality podcast, the Chicago queen revisited her time on the show, detailing poor working conditions, alleged threats from producers and a frosty relationship with RuPaul.
The Vixen had ‘no off-camera relationship’ with RuPaul.
“We have no off-camera relationship,” she said of the Drag Race host.
“I ran into her once at an elevator. It was a nod and she kept on moving.”
The Vixen detailed some of the racist abuse she’s received from the fandom since being on the show, including threats from so-called fans who warned they would throw acid over her at DragCon.
She said the makers of the show could “absolutely” do more to protect its Black queens, in part by not presenting queens within an “angry Black girl” narrative, and by ending the framing of Black queens in the context of white Eurocentric beauty.
Of the now-infamous reunion episode, The Vixen said that although producers were furious with her exit, they had goaded her into “drama”.
“On camera they were telling me I shouldn’t do these things, but the days leading up to it they were saying they wanted drama, they wanted good TV, but their idea of good TV was cornering me.”
After she walked off set, The Vixen claimed that producers “insinuated” they would kick her out of her hotel room unless she cooperated.
Of RuPaul’s comments on the reunion that “comes from the same goddam she comes from”, The Vixen said that the host was complicit in her treatment.
“Ru creates this platform, but when you look at the 40 white producers that accept an award with her, those are the people that she’s really answering to.
“It doesn’t matter that she’s looking at a queen that looks just like her. She doesn’t see with empathy, because she’s looking through the eyes of 40 white men.”
When asked whether she would consider returning to Drag Race, The Vixen replied: “Absolutely not. You can’t expect the person that hurt you to heal you.”
PinkNews approached representatives for World of Wonder for comment.
