Drag Race icon Trixie Mattel reassures fans that she’s not dead
Don’t worry, everyone, drag icon Trixie Mattel is still with us! (TikTok/trixiemattel/GettyImages)
Drag star Trixie Mattel is proudly announcing that she is not, in fact, dead after fans mistook an NBC post for an obituary.
Fans became concerned that the US drag queen, best known for competing in season seven of RuPaul’s Drag Race and winning All Stars 3 as well as her YouTube show UNHhhh with Katya Zamolodchikova, might have kicked the bucket after NBC Out posted an Instagram a tribute to her.
The post, which was part of the news organisation’s “Pride 30” list of influential queers, described Mattel as the “queen of 1960s kitsch and everything pink” in a heartfelt tribute to the icon.
It was a tribute that, clearly, many mistook as an announcement that she had died.
Worried users replied to the Instagram grid post asking whether the drag icon is still with us, with some writing: “I did not need this kind of anxiety today.”
Trixie Mattel quickly took to TikTok to clarify that she was still very much alive in a recording shared on Friday (9 June).
“So, I am not dead,” she said in the clip. “NBC posted this picture of me with my birthday and in the comments, everybody’s like, ‘Are you dead?’
“I’m not dead. I’m not dead. Pride Month has not killed me yet, but still could happen!” she joked.
Shortly after, NBC Out responded to the post, writing: “Point taken!
“The format will change tomorrow. Apologies for causing mass community anxiety,” it continued.
Relieved fans responded with a healthy mixture of gratitude and jokes about the misunderstanding.
One user wrote: “Honestly this post is what she’d want for us,” while another added: “The way my soul left my body, y’all gotta do another format for these kinds of posts.”
Some were bewildered that the post had even been approved in the first place, with another writing: “Whoever thought this format of the picture was a good idea is insane!”
If the rumours had been true, we know that Katya would have had some choice words for her dear friend’s departure …
Mattel wasn’t the only one to have been mistakenly announced as dead by NBC Out. Comedian Murray Hill’s Pride 30 post was also misunderstood as an obituary, with fans asking: “Who’s in charge of social media on this account?”
Hill clarified on the post itself that they were still alive and kicking, writing: “Ha! I’m still alive everyone.”
Others on the list include Marsha P Johnson, Darcelle XV, Madam Pattirini and Gladys Bentley.
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