Drag Race stars clap back at claims they walked out after Emmy Awards loss: ‘Pseudo-journalism’
RuPaul’s Drag Race has received 71 nominations and 29 Emmy Awards over its 15-year tenure. (Getty)
RuPaul’s Drag Race stars have insisted they didn’t stage a mass walkout after the show was snubbed at the Emmys.
The series failed to win outstanding reality competition programme at the 2024 Emmy Awards, losing out to The Traitors. Drag Race has every year since 2018, except in 2022 when Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls snatched the honour.
Senior staff writer at The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Gardner, claimed the drag stars didn’t take the disappointment well. “After the category was announced, the team from Drag Race (including all the queens) cleared out and headed to the lobby,” he claimed.
A later post on Twitter/X showed that the cast was still there late into the show, with Gardner correcting himself and writing: RuPaul’s Drag Race team (and friends) are still here.”
Gardner’s original post received a pushback from drag artists who were there, with Plane Jane explaining that the team simply wanted some air.
“It was a commercial break and the girls wanted a drink,” she wrote. “We all stayed until the end of the ceremony. Take your pseudo-journalism elsewhere.”
Season 16’s Amanda Tori Meating also clapped back, saying the award came just before an ad-break, adding sarcastically: “Are we allowed to go p**s, girl?”
Others who believed the post was misleading noted that much of the group were in drag, which can be “super uncomfortable”.
One person wrote: “People are saying they’re rude but clearly it was down time. No one was presenting on stage and people were walking out and coming in.”
Over its 15-year tenure, Drag Race has received 71 Emmy nominations, picking up an award 29 times. It is the second-most-successful outstanding reality competition programme, with five wins, just behind The Amazing Race. It was first nominated in 2017 but lost out to The Voice.
Other Emmys the show has won include outstanding casting and outstanding director for a reality programme. In addition, RuPaul has won outstanding host eight times.
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