Since the Arrowverse series needs a new lead star, here's who we'd want to see play Kate Kane!
Since the Arrowverse series needs a new lead star, here's who we'd want to see play Kate Kane!
TelevisionEntertainmentGay SuperheroeslesbiancomicsRaffy ErmacRaffy ErmacThere's a whole lot more Ru coming your way!
While we're going to be getting a Queer Eye episode of Celebrity Family Feud on May 31, it looks like Carson Kressley will be double-dipping. Not only did he reunite with his old Queer Eye for the Straight Guy family to compete on the popular show, but he also took part in the show with his new television family from RuPaul's Drag Race. Though the episode was teased earlier in the year with team members Raven and Latrice Royale both posting photos from behind the scenes on social media, Out can exclusively reveal that the Drag Race crew will take to the Family Feud stage on Sunday, June 14.
RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Kressley, Royale, and Raven will face off against cast members from Freeform's The Bold Type. That latter team will include Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, Melora Hardin, Stephen Conrad Moore, and Sam Page. The Drag Race team is playing to benefit The Ali Forney Center while The Bold Type is playing for Girls, Inc. The news comes off the back of Ru helping to raise almost $100,000 for Planned Parenthood on The Price is Right.
In a recent interview, Kressley teased to Out that the competition made for some good television!
"Ru and Michelle are always on it so there was no surprise there," he says. "But I thought Latrice and Raven were spectacular. They really showed America what amazing entertainers drag queens are because they had Steve Harvey, eating out of the palm of their well-manicured hands."
Celebrity Family Feud featuring teams from The Bold Type and RuPaul's Drag Race will air on ABC on Sunday, June 14 at 8 p.m. It will be available the following day on Hulu.
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00Wow, truly a talent.
Looks there's another achievement for the drag herstory books; RuPaul's Drag Race alum Willam has broken new ground by becoming the first drag performer to be nominated in an acting category at the Emmy Awards.
Any true fan of Drag Race knows that prior to appearing on the biggest drag pageant in the world, Willam was no stranger to the small screen. Out of drag, the performer had appeared on multiple shows and had no problem rattling those off while in the Werk Room. Most notably, she played a recurring role on Nip/Tuck. But since the show, the actor has continued working in Hollywood, recently launching her own talk fashion-centric talk show with Quibi— obviously, the most notable project post-Race was a cameo in the Academy Awards-winning A Star Is Born. That in mind, it's kind of not surprising that the performer is up for an Emmy.
The nomination comes for Willam's work in the final season of the dark comedy Eastsiders. On the show, which is available for streaming on Netflix, she plays Douglas or Gomorrah Rayon. Up for Best Supporting Actor in a Digital Drama Series, this year could see the actor clench her first Daytime Emmy Award.
This of course isn't the first drag queen to be nominated for an Emmy — or to win, were Willam to go all the way. RuPaul has notably won many as a host while Delta Work has also won one for her work in the hair department at Drag Race. Raven was nominated for her work in the makeup department as well.
Willam is up against Leith M. Burke, a co-star in Eastsiders, as well as Tristan Rogers from Studio City, Lenny Wolpe from After Forever, and Grogory Zarian from Venice.
The show is also nominated for best digital drama series and best writing team for a digital drama among other awards.
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00Get the tissues ready!
You've waited long enough! Netflix's Queer Eye is back with an all-new trailer for the popular show's fifth season.
The Fab Five are headed to Philadelphia to give a new group of heroes "make-betters." Of the cast: a newly out priest, a struggling single mom, a father wanting to make a good impression in his daughter's wedding, and more. The priest is the show's first member of the clergy. The hope, as always, is to "bring their infectious brand of self-love, confidence, and encouragement," to the world.
The new ten-episode season will debut on June 5.
And while a new season is exciting in and of itself, the trailer brings with it something extra special. VINCINT, a noted singer and songwriter, crafted an original song just for the show titled "Be Me." The track is currently available for both purchase and download. The performer is also one of the featured talents in PRIDE's livestreamed Prom event later today.
If June 5 is too far off for your next dose of Queer Eye, the show's Fab Five are facing off with the OGs from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on Celebrity Family Feud on May 31. Bobby Berk will lead the team from Netflix's five while Carson Kressley will lead the team from Bravo. The groups are playing to benefit GLSEN and The Trevor Project respectively.
Karamo Brown will not appear on the episode, likely as he recently appeared on Family Feud with his own family.
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00The Love, Simon spinoff is inviting fans to be a part of the premiere.
If you need a little puppy love in your life, you're in luck! Love, Victor, the Love, Simon-spinoff set to hit Hulu on June 19 is coming. While the entire series isn't here yet, the show is ready to drop its first official trailer. The best part: fans can get involved with the release.
Love, Victor has been in development for over a year now. After the lauded 2018 film Love, Simon, some of the powers behind the project (namely its star Nick Robinson as well as Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptker who were both writers for the feature) began working on the project, then slated to appear on Disney+. Earlier this year, it changed hands to Hulu but the storyline has stayed consistent: the new show follows the titular character Victor at the same high school that Simon had gone to. As he discovers himself, and this new school, he writes messages to Simon asking for advice on new friends and more.
A previously released teaser depicted Victor and Benji as Victor applies for a barista job at a coffee shop Benji manages. It serves up the classic Baywatch-esque slow-mo treatment that a ton of films have employed before, but rarely in same-sex attraction. According to reports, Benji is not only a love interest for Victor but openly gay in the series.
The show will debut its first full trailer tomorrow at 4 p.m. EST. Fans will be able to watch either on YouTube or here. The premiere will also host a chat room for fans to react instantly while watching.
On June 19, Love, Victor will drop all of its ten episodes on Hulu to stream.
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00Remember, it's all going to charity.
A new trailer shows it’s going to be an all in the family affair on Thursday as the boys from both editions Queer Eye will square off to raise funds for charity in an episode of Family Feud. Host Steve Harvey will emcee the battle with current stars facing off against original castmates on May 31 at 8:00 p.m.
The whole original squad is on deck with Carson Kressley, Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, and Jai Rodriguez all playing to benefit The Trevor Project (which bagged at least $40,000 from RuPaul's Drag Race-related projects alone in the past two months). The Netflix Queer Eye crew does include a change to it though: Bobby Berk will be joined by Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, and Wesley Hamilton (who replaces Kamaro Brown). The current cast will be playing to benefit GLSEN.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy debuted 15 years ago and featured a group of gay men giving much-needed makeovers to some seriously fashion-challenged straight men. The series initially ran for five seasons on Bravo, and was relaunched in 2018 on Netflix.
For those who can't get enough Feuding, Kressley will return to the show on June 14 as a part of RuPaul's team to face off against representatives from The Bold Type.
RELATED | 'Queer Eye' 5 Trailer Brings the Feels and New VINCINT Song
00And rightfully so!
Though our favorite show Schitt's Creek is over — for now— they are still eligible more than a few award shows. On Thursday, the series took home six trophies from the Canadian Screen Awards, referred to by some as the "Canadian Emmy's."
CSA is a multi-day event and this week is airing online. Each night is built around a specific category, with last night revolving around scripted television. While CTV's Cardinal took home the most wins in the virtual event, which saw acceptance speeches filmed at home and aired for the event, Schitt's wasn't far behind.
Among the trophies for the show, which just ended its final season, was Best Lead Actress — Catherine O'Hara has won the award for five years in a row, — Best Lead Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Eugene Levy and Emily Hampshire grabbed those trophies. Best Achievement in Hair and Best Achievement in Casting were also among their wins. The show also snagged Best Comedy Series — because, of course it did!
These wins came as the show made history for having 26 nominations at CSA.
"Thank you Canadian Academy for not only recognizing our cast and crew with 26 nominations, but for all of the awards this evening as well," Dan Levy wrote to Twitter. "Noah, the work you did in Meet the Parents literally changed people's lives and writing that episode for us meant the world to me. V grateful,"
In the "Meet the Parents" episode, Noah Reid's character Patrick Brewer comes out to his parents.
The final season Schitt's Creek is currently available on Hulu Live TV as well as the PopTV app. It is expected on Netflix later this year.
RELATED | 'Schitt's Creek' Creator Dan Levy Reveals Why the Show Had to End
00The SYFY Channel and USA have joined forces with GLAAD to to roll out their Pride plans.
As Pride month rapidly approaches (three more days!) entertainment platforms continue to do their best to fill in the live-festival gap by providing an array of at-home Pride-themed content. This year welcomes USA and SYFY networks’ Pride month partnership with GLAAD, which features tons of quintessential queer content that will amuse, amaze, and enlighten us as we celebrate while sheltering in place.
“During a time when many Pride events have been cancelled, SYFY and USA are offering viewers a place to celebrate and feel celebrated with specialty content in honor of National Pride Month,” says Chris McCumber, USA and SYFY president. “We are so grateful for GLAAD’s partnership and advocacy towards positive representation, and look forward to joining together to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community throughout June.”
Throughout the entire month of June, this multi-platform campaign will feature Pride-themed marathons, custom short-form videos, fan testimonials, PSAs, and all-new podcast episodes, among other cool stuff. Though not all scheduled content has yet been announced, a few aspects that are sure to be fan favorites already have.
Both networks will be broadcasting several marathons of our favorite shows but SYFY’s highlights include some fun content for its queer female fans, thanks to the Fangrrls, the network’s hub for female and nonbinary voices, which will be helming the network’s Pride campaign. We’re especially looking forward to its all-day ode to lesbian cult classic, Xena Warrior Princess (airing June 4, 11, 18, and 25), as well as a marathon of the wonderfully queer modern-day Western, Wynonna Earp (June 3, 10, 17, and 24). Other bingeable content includes the all-female-created comic adaptation, Vagrant Queen, and Looking for Leia, a documentary about and nonbinary and female sci-fi fans and how they express “their passion for the galaxy far, far away.”
The Fangrrls will also bring plenty of non-television, socially-conscious content to the table — like their "Pride Burst Factoids," quick bites featuring interesting facts about LGBTQ+ representation in entertainment, and "Frak, Marry, Kill" a raucous sci-fi-themed version of the popular party game, where queer characters from various genres are discussed and debated by fans.
From USA network, you can plan on getting comfy on the couch with some more great marathons. On June 7, watch the “Stand Up with Pride” Law & Order: SVU marathon, hosted by actor BD Wong. The all-day, specially curated marathon will feature the most impactful LGBTQ-themed episodes of the popular crime drama, as well as interactive resource content from GLAAD. You also cannot miss the multiple Modern Family marathons that will be playing throughout the month.
Also from USA, don’t miss Talk Stoop’s Pride week interviews June 1-6 , which features intimate chats with queer icons and allies like Carson Kressley, Gigi Gorgeous, Wanda Sykes, Natalie Morales, Jonathan Adler, Simon Doonan, and Born This Way Foundation cofounder (and Gaga’s mama), Cynthia Germanotta.
Check out the full lineup on USANetwork.com and SYFY.com.
RELATED | Pride Isn't Just an Event — So We're Celebrating All Year Long
00We asked a "business of drag" fanatic to do the numbers.
There's a lot of money being thrown around in the world of RuPaul! A whole lot. Fracking or not, the namesake of RuPaul's Drag Race has the ability to funnel a hell of a lot of money into a hell of a lot of pockets. Over the past two months at our count, RuPaul has helped to give over $40,000 to The Trevor Project across Drag Race and Secret Celebrity Drag Race. Then he helped raise almost $100,000 for Planned Parenthood and is set to hopefully win a bit more for The Ali Forney Center on Celebrity Family Feud. So it got us to thinking, how much money has television's leading drag queen given to other performers on her show?
Well, we asked a friend to tally it up.
Bernardo Simoes is a content creator and editor who launched the Twitter account DragBiz in February. Aimed at drawing attention to queens not only on Drag Race, but just in pop culture as well, the page attempts to break down the analytics and memorialize important moments for the art of drag.
"I've been a fan of drag for many years and I wanted to create a platform that covered drag performers and drag-related content like the real industry that it has become," Simoes tells Out. "That coverage has included providing fun stats, showcasing lesser-known artists, and giving fans a space to celebrate the art of drag without focusing on spoilers, gossip, and drama." The hope is to reflect a sort of SportsCenter for drag performers. So when we asked if he had any idea how much money Ru had given to queens on the show, he was pretty instantly interested in figuring it out.
Before we get into the numbers, it's important that we first set out some parameters. For the purposes of his tally, Simoes focused on prizes that were said to be in cash. So none of those trips, or product, but stuff that was explicitly stated to be doled out with a check. For the first six seasons, that was only the grand prize, but with season seven, Miss Congeniality got a prize as well.
Given those parameters, Simoes found that over the standard seasons of Drag Race, the cash prizes totaled a whopping $1,109,500. This included the grand prize wins, assorted mini-challenge wins and season 12's maxi-challenge win cash tips. Sherry Pie's $10,000 in wins was not counted in this number as it seems Drag Race is donating that to The Trevor Project.
Of the most surprising anecdotes here is that Monet X Change seems to have been the only Miss Congeniality since season seven to not receive a cash prize. Prior to her winners had taken home $5,000, and after her the prize was upped to $10,000. While season 12's Miss Congeniality prize is not in our total here (hey, it could change) the already announced grand prize is.
Another fun fact is season 12 gave out the most money in a single regular season, dispersing $164,500 in cash to its queens.
Now for All Stars!
When the queens come back for RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, they generally have bigger budgets than they previously had, given the post-show glow up, and over time, the show has begun to reflect that. Beginning in season two, All Stars began to offer up cash tips for lip sync wins. When these tips (and Aja's mini-challenge win in season three included) and as well as the grand prize money, All Stars has doled out $722,000.
When added up that means that over the span of 16 total seasons, RuPaul has given out some $1,831,500 in cash to his competing queens. Wow, what a moment.
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00The show is also promising celeb appearances, interviews by Asia O'Hara and a 'revolutionary' lip sync.
Bring back my season 12 girls — but virtually of course.
In a new clip from tonight’s season finale episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the queens are back and more socially distanced than ever. Set to RuPaul’s own “Bring Back My Girls” track, this year the finale red carpet is being done from home.
In the footage, each of the season’s contestants show off some of their best drag in self-shot footage from home. Well, almost all of the contestants! Sherry Pie, who was disqualified from the season before she ever debuted on the show, was not featured. This is in line with the terms of her disqualification.
The finale is the second virtual episode of the season, following the virtual reunion that aired last week. For tonight, the queens have pulled out some of their best drag — not going to lie, I was extremely impressed by self-proclaimed “bedroom queen” Aiden Zhane, and was slightly tickled that Brita Filter seemed to be offering up a redo, drag version of her Madonna look. Well, it was mostly their best drag! Crystal Methyd, as always, did things her way and came as a piñata. Kind of a fun, camp take on a “reveal,” no?
According to a release, the episode will include a revolutionary lip sync between the final three, Methyd, Jaida Essence Hall, and Gigi Goode. It was revealed at the reunion that this would contain five songs.
There will also be celebrity appearances, the announcement of Miss Congeniality, and virtual "red carpet" interviews by Asia O'Hara on Twitter starting at 4 pm EST. That red carpet will include a Fan Fashion show.
At the end we expect for "America's Next Drag Superstar" to be crowned, virtually of course.
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00Yes, there's a lot of spoilers here.
Welcome to the season 12 finale of RuPaul's Masked Lip Syncer! Well, er, Rupaul's Drag Race.
For the first time, Drag Race aired a virtual version of its finale episode. And while the show aimed to keep things still within the established format of the episode, they did so in a new socially distanced format. Here's our take.
First up Ru's look: You know exactly where this is going. It was lazy, featuring Ru in another face mask (we also got one for the reunion.) That said, we all must remember that RuPaul hasn't had to put himself into drag in well over a decade. He's worked with an entire team that has done his hair, makeup, and looks. So what did we expect?
Outside of that, the show gave us a resee of the season's competitors which we had seen earlier today. Much respect to that.
Then Ru led us into a variety of packages built around the final queens with them speaking to their childhood selves, talking about particularly resonant storylines from the show, and getting special messages from important people in their life. This was interspersed with particularly timely PSAs (which Ru loves) about voting and social distancing. This was all par the course for a Drag Race finale.
Of the most touching packages was one built around Jacqueline Wilson, a longtime producer of the show that died last year. Contestants called her the "soul of Drag Race," going on to reveal that Wilson was often the person they were talking to in their confessional videos. Aiden Zhane had a partcularly moving moment with Wilson on her last confessional filming for the episode she got kicked off the show, and multiple queens became visibly emotional while speaking of Wilson.
For the lip sync, things were divided into three sections essentially. First, a bit of RuPaul spon-con; the Queen Supreme required her finalists to all lip sync to her latest single "Bring Back My Girls." Jaida Essence Hall, Gigi Goode, and Crystal Methyd "assumed the position," which for this performance meant getting extra close to the camera. While they all nailed every word, personally it was Goode who outsold here.
For the second lip sync the queens were able to choose their songs and create their performance. It is, surprisingly, unprecedented for Drag Race to work in this way: to allow performers to select their song to perform as well as staging. While Drag Race Thailand includes that aspect, the U.S. version has not. So this was a nice addition.
That said, with this added layer it became clear that this was just as much a production challenge as anything else. Methyd's Nelly Furtado performance to "I'm Like a Bird" was characteristically quirky, with the performer taking us to children's theater as she turned into a mother and baby bird. Goode's performance to A-Ha's "Take on Me" went high production, with the gloss of a music video; she clearly had the physical space, as well as resources to pull off a studio sort of setting. Hall, on the other hand, prized performance. Of the three performers, she was the only to actually dance, putting more than a one, two-step in her Ciara number to "Get Up." That said, she did flub a few words, but not enough to take her out of the game.
The fact that the three focused on different things (Methyd concept, Goode production, and Hall performance) makes picking a winner slightly complicated. In an ideal world, we would love a combination of the three, but this is not ideal. Goode's production was second to none but as this is a performance, we are going to have to give it to Hall.
Ru, who had previously said that she would eliminate one contestant after the first two rounds, decided not to give it to anyone. The issue with that is it sort of defeated the purpose, in a way killing the suspense. Not only do we lose out on the "battle to the death" feeling we normally have because everything is being done virtually, but also there's apparently room for everybody in the finals!
For the Miss Congeniality crown, Nina West came back to pass on her title. Dolly Parton made an appearance and a few wisecracks that were amazing. Heidi N. Closet was given Miss Congeniality, as anticipated, and received $10,000. In addition, Pantene, who sponsored the award, decided to give $2,000 to each of the other 11 competitors present at the finale.
For the final lip sync, Drag Race leveled the playing field. They sent the same equipment and staging to each of the three finalists and made them all perform to Destiny's Child "Survivor." This, obviously, makes judging a little easier as there are areas of comparisons. While all three performers put on a show, Hall and Goode pretty quickly stood out. They each ended up with multiple reveals, and Hall (rightfully) walked away with the crown and $100,000.
With this season in the bag, the show has now awarded a whopping $1,863,500 in cash to queens throughout 16 seasons.
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0Here's 'Drag Race' Season 12's Winner, Our Take on the Finale
0"You guys, we are so good!"
Last night, for the first time RuPaul's Drag Raceaired a socially distanced finale. Contestants filmed their respective segments at home for three rounds of lip sync performances and sent them into production. Production then edited and aired them. As in season's passed, the queens truly don't know who wins until the episode airs — they all film their own respective acceptance speeches and after Ru makes a decision on who wins, that one is chosen to air. Typically the finalists watch the airing at highly-attended viewings, but given the shutdown of the nightlife industry, this year they all watched from home. The good thing: they filmed their viewings and watched alongside one another.
In a clip released by Drag Race today, finalists Jaida Essence Hall, Crystal Methyd, and Gigi Goode toast to each other and pat one another on their virtual backs for making it to the top three. Then, alongside the rest of the world, the performers watch the performances back, providing commentary along the way.
"You guys are everything," Goode says before the song starts. "We are everything, we're so iconic!" Both she and Hall show how their hands are in anticipation.
"That was my Widow [Von Du] dance" Methyd says at one point during the performance. "I was doing a TikTok dance," she adds later.
After the end of the performances, they all applaud one another before Methyd realizes a detail in the footage.
"Jaida, that crown?!" she says referring to a crown in the design of the train of her dress, which she has pulled up in a peacock-like back piece.
"Thank you," Jaida replies. "My designer came up with that!"
As the winner is announced, their anticipation is pretty palpable. Once Hall is announced, the expected (but heartfelt) congratulations are played to Hall, who takes a moment before she begins to scream.
"Girl I feel so weird, this is weird," Hall yells. "I can not believe like .. girl! Oh my god, I was not even supposed to be there bitch. Oh my god."
"I feel like no matter what just happened today for me or all of us, this has made such a change in our lives," she continues. "Like this is so crazy. Oh my god. And like, all of our dreams are going to come true; I've told y'all this so many times, for us everything is going to happen for us that we always wished could happen."
Congratulations to Miss Jaida Essence Hall.
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00It's time to do your research.
It's time to do your research.
TelevisionBallroomMikelle StreetHBO MaxThe ongoing global pandemic will require the show to rework its format.
Pose has become a high point of Pride season, truly. Generally, the season kicks off around the first week of June and brings the fictitious houses of a Steven Canals X Ryan Murphy X Janet Mock imagined ballroom scene back into our lives. But this year, as a result of the ongoing viral pandemic, that isn't happening. The show shuttered early during production of the episodes.
“When production paused, I wasn’t shocked — I knew it would happen — but it was a bittersweet moment for me,” show lead Indya Moore told Variety in a new feature. “On the one hand, if anyone had gotten sick, it surely would have spread fast. On the other hand, most folks working on a production are living paycheck to paycheck. So I was worried about how they are going to survive.” Moore, who has actively been involved in the recent protests both in-person and online, went on to bring attention to the fact that some of these working on production are having a "really rough time."
And while things are halted now, they will eventually come back. But how? Well first up, the entire season hasn't even been written yet because things got shut down so early. That said, it will be written and filmed but with some significant tweaks.
"'Things like kissing — we will likely forgo those moments,"show creator Canals said. "The place on our show where the biggest impact will be felt will be the ball scenes: Those scenes have 125 to 150 background actors. That’s tricky, because that’s such an important and critical part of our show and the narrative. We’re just, only now, having conversations of ‘Is there a world where we forgo these things?’” Hopefully not.
While the visual of the ballroom scenes add a lot to the series, those parts also keep the show grounded within the community it is inspired by. Many of those in the background, as well as in the featured cameos from those segments, are from the ballroom community itself. If this is lost, we are hopeful that the show will find another way to integrate this aspect.
As an aside though, if kissing is out, does that mean radical love scenes like the one between Pray Tell and Ricky Evangelista are out too?! Say it ain't so! You can watch that scenes, and everything else from season 2, on Netflix next week!
00Also, ahead of the premiere of the latest season, Shea Coulee has spoken out about being on the show.
Untucked can be a really important part of the RuPaul's Drag Race Cinematic Universe. When done well, it can provide backstories as well as an otherwise fuller picture of what we get to watch happening on the Main Stage and in the Werk Room of RuPaul's Drag Race. For the spinoff All Stars, we haven't gotten this kind of content since season one. Well, with season five, it's back, back, back, again!
Announced today, Untucked will kick off its new season directly the All Stars 5 premiere ends. We anticipate seeing all of this season's queens (that's Alexis Mateo, Blair St. Clair, Derrick Barry, India Ferrah, Jujubee, Mariah Paris Balenciaga, Mayhem Miller, Miz Cracker, Ongina, and Shea Coulee) on at some point. There's no word on whether this season's mysterious lip sync assassins will also make an appearance.
In addition to the queens, we expect for celebrity judges to make appearances as well. For the premiere, that means, hopefully, Ricky Martin will be in for some inappropriate jokes as the queens untuck. Later in the season Tessa Thompson, Bebe Rexha, Sarah Hyland, Tommy Dorfman, and more could all make appearances.
The premieres come at a particularly interesting time in American culture as there are protests supporting and led by Black Lives Matter nationwide. Coulee addressed this in a lengthy statement posted to Twitter.
"I think it's pretty obvious to say that today has been a day that I have been looking forward to for quite some time now," she wrote of the premiere. "However, when I left to film All Stars 5 a year ago, the world was a completely different place." She went on to specifically namecheck the global pandemic, the police killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests.
"I have struggled this entire week with the desire to share and celebrate my return to All Stars, and a sense of guilt in feeling that would be too self-serving during these incredibly sensitive times," she wrote. "I wish I had a proper answer, but I am still learning. In this moment however, I do feel that sharing successful Black stories is an important tool in creating hope for the younger queer POC who watch the show looking for inspiration and escape."
Read the full letter below.
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00Plus all the other gags, twists, and spoilers you need to know.
RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars 5 has aired and Ricky Martin has done his judging — and reaffirmed his status as hunk of our heart. But with all of the goops and gags the season had in store for us, here we break down a short list of spoiler.
The Gag That Hadn't Been Previously Revealed
In the lead into season five, the show revealed that it would have quite a few twists. With All Stars rules suspended, instead of two top performers lip syncing for their legacies, instead only one top queen would be named each week. She would face off against a lip sync assassin — more on that later — and if she won, bag $10,000. Her win would also guarantee that she got to select who went home.
At the time of that news, the release said that if she lost, a "secret panel" would seal her fate. As the queens learned quite early on in the premiere episode, that panel is all of the other contestants, who would each vote. The person voted on by the queens would go home if the assassin win.
And Your First Lip Sync Assasin Is
India Ferrah — unexpectedly — came in and wiped the competition in the Variety Show Main Stage challenge. It should be noted here that there were quite a few notable performances. Among them: Shea Coulee and Alexis Mateo. Miz Cracker and Mariah Paris Balenciaga also deserve mention here if we're being honest! But there was a fire in Ferrah, no doubt as she had a point to prove, that pushed her over the top.
In the lip sync, Ferrah had to perform against one Yvie Oddly. It is absolutely no shade but this one was determined before the music began. As we've seen before, Oddly has a way of incorporating stunts, gags, reveals, and antics into a performance that make her enthralling to watch. She pulled all of that out and more. There was no announced prize for her win, but we have to imagine they are paying these queens a cute coin to come back for this.
A Clarification to an Earlier Twist
During the initial announcements, the new lip sync format left it slightly unclear what would happen to the tip in the case of the lip sync assassin winning. While we certainly assumed it "rolling over" meant it would be added cumulatively, that wasn't exactly explicitly said. The new episode made it evident that was indeed the case.
Why To Watch Untucked
The tagline of Drag Race's longrunning after show goes "if you're not watching Untucked, you're only getting half the story." While that's certainly true on some seasons, at others it can be a bit of a bore. The premiere episode of Untucked left a lot to be desired but at the end, viewers who stuck around got to see which queens voted for whom. That's a key detail that could cause an added layer to the show in the episodes to come.
Our Parting Shot
Love the performance but if India Farrah could hold on ever doing that flip, slide that would be great. Two times is the limit sis.
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00You may remember them, having gone viral weeks ago for handing out rainbow masks to fight the pandemic and homophobia.
Against a backdrop of rising intolerance in their home country, a gay couple made history when they were shown getting intimate in a television commercial that appeared on Polish TV, according to Gay Star News. The well-known YouTubers, Jakub and Dawid Mycek-Kwiecinski, appeared in an advertisement for Durex condoms and were the first same-sex couple to appear in a national television commercial.
The Durex commercial shows three couples in the process of getting intimate. The Mycek-Kwiecinskis appear giving themselves haircuts, slowly embracing, and moving in for a kiss. One is shown reaching for a condom after the pair embraces. The couple told GSN the campaign will air in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Lithuania.
This is not the first time the couple has made the news. Jakub had worked as a presenter on the national television network TVP for nine years. He was summarily fired for being gay after TVP hired Jacek Kurski, a former member of the conservative political party Law and Justice, to become the company’s president.
During the worst of the global pandemic, Jakub and Dawid produced and distributed hundreds of free rainbow-hued facemasks. They documented their philanthropy in a YouTube video, highlighting the love and appreciation they received for the Pride-themed personal protective equipment. The positive response was heartwarming and, frankly, surprising, considering how hostile Poland has historically (and recently) been towards LGBTQ+ people and queer equality.
The conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) won the 2019 general elections in Poland with the help of a homophobic social platform. Many cities and districts have called themselves “LGBT-Free zones” and the legislature is currently considering a bill that would equate LGBTQ+ persons to pedophiles. The law would punish anyone who “promotes or approves sexual intercourse or other sexual activity by a minor” with up to three years in prison. The proposal, along with a similar “Stop Abortion” bill under consideration, received international condemnation.
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00Truly a full-circle moment.
We don't exactly remember when David Rose made evident his undying infatuation with Mariah Carey. It was seasons ago but somewhere along the line we found out. Then, via Twitter it became clear that Rose's love was only an extension of show creator Dan Levy's own love for the singer. And now, she's returned that love in-kind, notably by crashing a virtual Schitt's Creek cover of the song "Hero."
As a part of the online 2020 commencement events quarterbacked by Barack and Michelle Obama, the Schitt's cast got back into character to serenade the outgoing seniors with a song. Moira Rose, walking thesaurus that she is, provided an eloquent but slightly befuddling introduction. She was joined pretty quickly by the entire Rose family, as well as the Jazzagals, Stevie Budd, and even multihyphenate-around-town, Ray! And in a number led by Patrick Brewer, the whole crew put on an acoustic version of "Hero."
For the last little bit of the song, Carey herself makes an appearance giving the most beautiful riffs we've heard while in quarantine yet.
"Moira darling, I hope you didn't mind I jumped in like that," she says. "You all sounded so good I had to get in on it!"
The Mariah Carey love has gone both ways with Schitt's. In February 2019, the star endorsed the show on Twitter, quoting a gif of the scene where Patrick calls David his "Mariah Carey." Then, in the season finale Patrick sings "Always Be My Baby" during his wedding with David, she tweeted about the show again, quote tweeting the scene.
Maybe right before Christmas she can tweet that she wants a holiday special!!
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00The news comes after a long, contentious relationship between the artist and the show's fandom.
James Ross, the performer once known as Tyra Sanchez on the most-watched drag pageant in the world, would like you to forget he was ever on RuPaul's Drag Race.
"I want absoutely nothing to do with your toxic community," Ross wrote on Twitter. "Stop tagging me in your posts, stop including me with your winners. Just forget me."
The tweet was one in a string of tweets wherein Ross also alleged hooking up with Sahara Davenport on the first night of filming. Davenport passed in 2012. Ross also went on to address the show.
"RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race and World of Wonder have been silent for years about Black lives mattering," he wrote, in reference to the respective social media accounts posting in support of the movement. Instead of live-tweeting the All Stars 5 premiere on Friday, the accounts posted tools for assisting in the fight. "Don't for a second think they care about you. It's simply the trendy thing for them to do at this time. They are racist themselves."
"You act as tho this comes from no where," Ross continued in a later tweet. "Every morning I wake to your racist hate and I say nothing. I block you and keep moving. Today I have time. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of white people leaving comments on my page, inboxing me hate every single damn day."
Racism has been a longstanding issue within the Drag Race fandom. Many of the Black stars who have been on the show experiencing outright racism in the form of threats of lynching, or slurs, while almost all have experienced a more covert form wherein their work isn't as celebrated as those of their white sisters. Ross's relationship has been the most extreme version of those, with a contemptuous back and forth between the creative and the fandom since his season two win.
Ross has spoken out on the hate from show fans multiple times. It has also boiled over into massive incidents with Ross retaliating, telling fans to kill themselves, and threatening DragCon. These egregious threats came as a result of similarly egregious circumstances he was put under by thousands of fans.
In 2019 Ross apologized in a letter after taking a break from social media and seemed to be coming back to drag with a new outlook.
The judgement, criticism, and opinions I received daily really affected my vibes and it began to control my environment,” he wrote at the time. “I was on an extreme roller coaster of emotions. So many ups and too many downs. Exhausted, I was just ready to get off the ride.”
“I allowed the negativity to consume me. Boiling it inside and smiling through tears I became rebellious; thought it empowered me,” he continued. “Many times I expressed myself without thinking things through. I reacted out of fear and with anger. Neglecting the fact that I was wrong, I unleashed my anger upon anyone who crossed me. Making them pay for old and new because I thought it made me feel better…. I was angry, hurt and lost.”
He notably went on to perform at The Vixen's Black Girl Magic show among other gigs. Butl later, in March 2020 he completely retired his name, deactivated all Tyra Ross accounts, and stepped away from drag completely.
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00TVP claims the commercial violates Polish law and decency, while rival stations air the commercial without controversy.
The television station controlled by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) in Poland is refusing to air a groundbreaking commercial because it features the first televised intimate moment between two men in the country’s history. Well-known YouTubers, Jakub and Dawid Mycek-Kwiecinski, appeared in an advertisement for Durex condoms and were the first same-sex couple to appear in a national television commercial in their country.
TVP refused outright to air the commercial, citing supposed complaints from viewers as well as a section of the 1992 law governing broadcasting. Article 18 of the Broadcasting Act requires that programming “shall respect the religious beliefs of the public and especially the Christian system of values” and that “scenes or contents which may have an adverse impact upon a healthy physical, mental or moral development of minors” can only be aired between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Competing stations Polestar and the Discovery Channel-owned TVN aired the commercials without controversy.
The advertisement for Durex condoms featured four real-life couples in the moments leading up to acts of intimacy. The four couples will later be featured in a longer documentary.
TVP has been criticized for serving as a mouthpiece for the ruling PiS party. TVP, in turn, has described TVN as a “fake news factory” and representing the interests of former communists. U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher strongly defended the integrity of TVN in a recent tweet, noting the station is “committed to transparency, freedom of speech, and independent, responsible journalism.”
TVP was ordered earlier this month to remove an inflammatory video from YouTube. Billed as a documentary, Invasion (Inwazja) ostensibly claims to reveal a behind-the-scenes look at the “goals, methods, money” and inner workings of the alleged LGBTQ+ invasion of Poland. Critics claim it is homophobic propaganda. Viewer discretion is advised.
The news comes against a backdrop of increasing intolerance for the LGBTQ+ community in the country. Many municipalities have declared themselves “LGBTQ-free zones” and a recently proposed bill sought to equate LGBTQ+ persons as pedophiles.
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