Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
Over the 13 seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, there have been a few disgruntled queens who’ve complained about how they were portrayed on the reality competition, mainly in receiving a “bad edit.” Continue reading “RuPaul Calls Out Complaining Queens “Blame It On The Edit””
Some news items you might have missed:
• Pink News: Gay Times, one of the world’s longest-running print magazines for the LGBTQ+ community, is ending its print edition after nearly 50 years with plans to go all-digital. Continue reading “News Round-Up: September 19, 2021”
At the 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday, RuPaul won his 6th Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program. Continue reading “RuPaul Picks Up 6th Emmy Award As Host For RPDR”
RuPaul, the queen of drag, has teamed up with Tanya Tucker, iconic queen of country music for decades, for the new anthem, “This Is Our Country.” Continue reading “Two Queens Walk Into A Recording Studio ‘This Is Our Country’”
In a new interview with the iconic Dolly Parton for Marie Claire, RuPaul asked the diva about some of the more mundane aspects of her day like how many hours of sleep she gets and cooking some biscuits and gravy for breakfast.
The Emmy Award-winning Drag Race host inquired if the country superstar cooks in high heels to which Dolly replied, “I always wear my high heels. Don’t you?”
RuPaul answered, “No. That’s the thing: There are similarities in what we do, but I take all that stuff off.”
But Dolly had a different view:
“I have to always stay ready – street ready, I always say. I have to keep my makeup on and keep my hair done. Like, when I’m in LA – I’ve told you about it – if it’s going to earthquake, if we get an earthquake, I’m not running out in the street looking like you look now.”
Like. You. Look. Now.
LOL…Of course, Dolly wasn’t being ugly. That’s just not in her character.
It’s a fun interview as Dolly is promoting her new holiday album, A Holly Dolly Christmas, and her new Netflix Christmas movie, Christmas on the Square. Read the full chat over at Marie Claire.
Back in July, RuPaul quietly and inexplicably erased all posts from his Instagram and Twitter accounts. He even temporarily deactivated his Twitter.
Was it the coronavirus pandemic? Social unrest across the country after the killing of George Floyd?
It’s not like Ru went into hiding. We’ve seen the drag star hosting his show and making a virtual appearance during the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards to accept his 5th trophy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program
At the time, no one seemed to know what or why the Supermodel of the World retreated from social media.
But now we know what brought him back to the Gram of Insta and Twitterverse.
Wednesday night, Mama Ru reactivated Twitter to post a photo of international pop star Dame Olivia Newton-John along with the caption, “Olivia Newton-John has started a new foundation to find kinder ways to treat, prevent & cure all cancers, with a strong focus on plant medicine. Follow & support @onjfoundation #beyondcancer @therealonj#onjfoundation onjfoundation.org.”
RuPaul also shared the message on Instagram.
Olivia Newton-John has started a new foundation to find kinder ways to treat, prevent & cure all cancers, with a strong focus on plant medicine. Follow & support @onjfoundation #beyondcancer @therealonj #onjfoundation https://t.co/flem6bhVKP pic.twitter.com/IeOewiLMEM
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) October 7, 2020
The messages came just a day after Olivia announced the launch of the Olivia Newton-John Foundation which will “fund the discovery of kinder therapies and advocate for more effective ways to prevent, treat and cure all cancers.”
Olivia, who shared in recent years her breast cancer from 1992 had reoccurred, has said in interviews she’s interested in helping explore the science behind more plant-based medicine.
As fans of both stars know, Ru and Olivia have been friends for a long time.
Last fall, RuPaul attended Olivia’s charity auction at Julien’s where the Grease star put her famous black leather jacket and pants from the movie’s finale on the bidding block and garnered over $500,000 for charity.
Ru also traveled to attend the “Physical” singer’s opening night of her Las Vegas residency. And of course, ONJ has been a guest on The RuPaul Show, the web series RuPaul Drives…, and a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Here’s hoping this is just the beginning of RuPaul’s return to social media.
Some news items you might have missed:
• NewNowNext: RuPaul (above) has made Emmys herstory by snatching her fifth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program. RuPaul’s Drag Race is nominated for Outstanding Competition Program during this year’s Primetime Emmys, Sunday, September 20 at 8pm ET on ABC.
• Edge Media: A gay couple in New York recalls the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg officiating their wedding.
• KIT212: Check out Kenneth’s weekly round-up of the latest in LGBTQ publications like South Florida’s Hot Spots! (below) featuring Pose star Billy Porter.
• New York Times: Democratic donors gave more money online in the 9 p.m. hour Friday after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was announced — $6.2 million — than in any other single hour since ActBlue, the donation-processing site, was started 16 years ago. Then donors broke the site’s record again in the 10 p.m. hour when donors gave another $6.3 million — more than $100,000 per minute.
• The Nation: Last week, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) whistleblower told the press that agency officials had ordered him to downplay the threat of white supremacist terrorism. A recent DHS intelligence assessment about physical threats to the 2020 election season identifies “white supremacist extremists” as the foremost threat to the democratic process this year.
• Out Music: Ahead of their upcoming, pandemic-delayed album Love Goes, Grammy winner Sam Smith busts some dance moves in the music video for the new electro-pop dance single “Diamonds.” The album was postponed from an original release date in June due to the coronavirus health threat. The powers that be also wisely rethought the original title, To Die For, with the pandemic in mind.
Some news items you might have missed:
• The Gaily Grind: It turns out Dr. Stella Immanuel (above), who shot to fame this week praising hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus “cure,” is a homophobic preacher who alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments and gay marriage means that “very soon people are going to be seeking to marry children.”
• Page Six: International pop star Elton John is apparently being sued by his ex-wife for dishing on their ill-fated 1980s marriage in his memoir and bio-pic.
• ABC News: An ethics watchdog group has accused President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign of obscuring nearly $170 million worth of campaign spending through so-called “pass-through” vendors linked to campaign leadership instead of disclosing the true recipients of the funds.
• AP News: U.S. officials say Russian intelligence operatives are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic and cause confusion ahead of the presidential election in November.
• DisneyPlus: In this ‘Mup Close & Personal’ moment, Emmy Award-winner RuPaul stops by the new Muppets Now and discusses ‘fashion icon’ status with the venerable Miss Piggy. The new series begins streaming July 31.
Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: New American citizen Craig Ramsay (above) has a message for his fellow citizens – “Wear a f**king mask, America🇺🇸”
• Washington Post: A long-acting drug injected every two months is more effective at preventing HIV than the pills most commonly used by people at risk of acquiring the infection. The injectable drug cabotegravir (tested on more than 4,500 men and transgender women who have sex with men) proved to be even better than oral drug Truvada in blocking the virus.
• Pink News: It only took around 240 mixed-sex couples across more than 16 years, but executives for the UK reality series Strictly Come Dancing are now allegedly considering not one, but two same-sex couples for the show’s upcoming season.
• Boy Culture: Daniel Ryan Maples, a white insurance agent wearing a red ‘Running the World Since 1776′ shirt, lost his ever-lovin’ shit when asked by a fellow customer to wear a mask inside Costco. He approached the other customer aggressively, shouting the words that will follow him for the rest of his miserable life: ‘I Feel Threatened.’
Nobody who charges you with their whole body tensed up and barking at you with “I FEEL THREATENED” is actually threatened.
This asshole MUST be a cop. Those are the last words many unarmed Black people hear before being murdered by police. pic.twitter.com/aqAee1Ic2I
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) July 7, 2020
• Indiana Lawyer: The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Monday former Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock and his campaign committee, Schock for Congress, are off the hook regarding the law firm’s unpaid legal bills totaling $159,946.37, plus interest.
• Provincetown Reimagined: The gay mecca’s acclaimed international film celebration will present a modified festival with drive-in and virtual screenings running July 16-19, 2020. The Festival will kick off with two nights of screenings at the Wellfleet Drive-In including Mischa Richter’s documentary, I AM A TOWN, shot entirely in Provincetown; the 2020 Sundance hit, SAVE YOURSELVES!; and a special night hosted by John Waters with film titles announced soon. The Festival will also feature virtual screenings with selections curated to speak to this moment in time.
• Twitter: Still no official word as to why RuPaul deleted his Twitter account and wiped his Instagram clean last week, but Twitter user @cheritaisrandom posits it might have something to do with several old photos of RuPaul dressed in Confederate flag attire, including a 2013 Instagram post that appears to be captioned, “The South will rise again!”.
THIS is why RuPaul mass deleted. Smh. pic.twitter.com/9IF72URRYR
— Cherita “I Told Y’all So” Explains It All (@cheritaisrandom) July 4, 2020
Where in the virtual world has RuPaul gone?
Fans noticed on Thursday, the 6-time Emmy Award winner had deactivated his Twitter account (“This account doesn’t exist”) and removed all posts on his Instagram account (“No posts yet”).
Just gone. Poof. Shantay-ed away.
The move has left many fans feeling confused, with one user tweeting: “Can someone please check on @RuPaul. Mother deleted everything on her Instagram.”
Can someone please check on @RuPaul. Mother deleted everything on her Instagram.
— chase (@chasedover05) July 2, 2020
“Why did RuPaul just totally decimate his entire Instagram tho — what is happening?” tweeted another fan.
One fan, referencing the recent reports that Ru seemingly admitted to allowing fracking on his Wyoming/South Dakota property, responded asking “Did the oil wells dry up in Wyoming??”
👀 did the oil wells dry up in wyoming??
— Ⓐn ugly coyote 🐺 (@ughlycoyote) July 2, 2020
I think she was fracked, I mean hacked
— Gaznápiro (@ninherate) July 2, 2020
Another posited that the world’s most successful drag queen had been hacked, posting a recorded video showing posts disappearing from Instagram one by one.
The fan wrote, “@RuPaul someone is hacking your Instagram and deleting your photos.”
@RuPaul someone its hacking your instagram 😨😨😨😨 and deleting your photos #dragrace #rupaul pic.twitter.com/AvXQYW0Pv8
— chrissLovato (@crisslovato) July 2, 2020
Multiple outlets, including The Randy Report, have reached out to RuPaul’s reps about the deletions but received no comment.
Page Six points out that Season 10 Drag Race alum Kameron Michaels also wiped his Instagram account on the same day.
But early this morning, Michaels posted a note on the Gram of Insta saying he is ‘fine.’
“There is no stunt. No scandal. No big reveal,” wrote Michaels. “Without going into all the whiney details about my own personal issues, I simply want to start over.”
Michaels went on to say he cringed at many of his past posts because he began to tie his self-worth in reality “to that of my online content and I’m erasing that toxic behavior.”
He added, “As far as someone else doing the same thing I did, weirdly on the very same day…I have mo idea why they or their team erased their content.”
Another coincidence – or not? – the timing of RuPaul’s deletions happened the same day as the debut of Canada’s Drag Race, the 4th iteration of the popular reality series.
While Mama Ru’s personal social media pages have been deleted or deactivated, for now, the official RuPaul’s Drag RaceInstagram account remains active, although the most recent post was from June 12.
The 5th Season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars is currently airing on VH1.