RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17 queen slams her ‘unjustifiable’ elimination

The latest eliminee from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17 has addressed her shocking exit from the competition, explaining that it’s “hard to accept” as she was “killing” the season.

In the most recent episode, episode seven, the 11 remaining queens were tasked with playing the legendary improv challenge, the Snatch Game. Yet New Jersey-based queen Crystal Envy failed to impress the judges with her rendition of The Simple Life star Nicole Ritchie, with judge Ross Matthews calling it “so rough”.

Crystal landed in the bottom two alongside her competitor Lana Ja’Rae, lip-syncing to Selena Gomez’s “Hands To Myself”. But after a performance full of faux pas, including a wig falling off and the queens bumping into each other, it was Crystal who ended up getting the chop.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly following her elimination, the drag star has expressed her thoughts on her elimination not being “justifiable” and named the queens she felt should have been in the bottom instead of her.

“It didn’t feel like my time to go home. I did well every week, didn’t land low once, and as soon as I’m in the bottom two: eliminated. I had a steady trajectory up the cliff and then I just fell right off,” she reflected, adding that it was “shocking and heartbreaking” for her journey to end so soon.

“I’m a self-aware person. If I was doing bad, I’d be like, okay, this is my time. It’s hard to accept the fate when you’re kind of killing it,” she added.

In the previous six episodes, Crystal had cemented herself as a possible contender for the crown, having been in the top two once, and scored a “high” placement twice. 

“At the end of the day, I’m so happy for my experience because I did really well. I was in the top almost every week I was there. I can’t be mad at that; however, I think my time was extremely cut short,” she shared. “One little mishap and you’re sent packing out the door.”

Crystal went on to state that her elimination wasn’t “particularly justifiable” and she shouldn’t have been lip-syncing to stay at all.

Naming fellow competitors Arrietty and Lydia B Kollins as Snatch Game performers she didn’t live for, Crystal said: “I do think other girls were kind of dry.”

“I love Lexi Love, but I don’t know how it was so bad that it became good,” she added, referencing her season sister’s impersonation of late comedian Gilbert Gottfried, which was dubbed by the judges as such a flop that it became funny again. “I don’t understand that,” Crystal added.

Following her lip-sync against Lana Ja’Rae, Crystal Envy also caught some heat online, with some of the show’s more toxic fans attacking her for some of the slip-ups that occurred during the performance.

At one point, Crystal was seen sliding under Lana’s legs when her competitor stepped over her, while another moment shows Crystal accidentally bumping into Lana.

Responding to the furore online, Crystal wrote on X/Twitter: “I’m sorry, but anyone saying I got ‘handsy’ with Lana in our lipsync is delusional. Lana stood in front of ME first, so I found my light by crawling through her legs. A playful moment.”

I’m sorry, but anyone saying I got “handsy” with Lana in our lipsync is delusional. Lana stood in front of ME first, so I found my light by crawling through her legs. A playful moment. The second time I accidentally bumped her not knowing she was right next to me. Thank u, NEXT.

— Crystal Envy (@thecrystalenvy) February 17, 2025

She continued: “The second time I accidentally bumped her not knowing she was right next to me. Thank u, NEXT… To insinuate I would get physical with my sisters is CRAZY girl.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race airs on Fridays on MTV in the US and WOW Presents Plus internationally. 

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