RuPaul’s Drag Race star The Vixen gets death threats after Untucked racism row
The Vixen (Netflix).
A RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant has received death threats after speaking out about racism on Drag Race Untucked.
While there was plenty of drama on-screen during last week’s episode of Drag Race, there was even more on companion show Untucked, which featured a heated argument about race between several contestants.
Drag star The Vixen (Anthony Taylor), who is African-American, accused rival contestant Aquaria (Giovanni Palandran) of perpetuating racist stereotypes and seeking to portray her as an “angry black woman.”
The row unfolded on Untucked after Aquaria suggested The Vixen had been “aggressive” on the show by making a series of stinging comments.
After The Vixen suggested this was racist, Aquaria burst into tears – leading to a further heated argument which culminated in The Vixen telling Aquaria to “leave me alone.”
While the two queens themselves have since mended fences in real life, fans of the show were extremely divided by the feud – with both contestants receiving abuse on social media in the wake of the row.
Meanwhile, on Reddit, home to one of the largest online Drag Race fan communities, discussions grew so abusive that topics about the feud was locked down.
The Vixen
A string of discussion threads were eventually deleted, with moderators posting a lengthy statement calling out “nasty behaviour” and “straight up vile comments directed at contestants.”
They added: “We were hoping that those discussions would be civil, while most of them started off that way they quickly escalated into racism and hatred.”
The Vixen took to Twitter to reveal that she had received a number if death threats in the wake of the row.
She wrote: “Yes I have received plenty death threats etc but they don’t compare to the amount of love coming in. #teamvixen I wish I could respond to everyone but know that I feel your support. ✊ ♥️ ”
One remark directed to The Vixen on Twitter said: “please die you fucking ugly bully. Playing mean doesn’t suit you … stupid ugly jealous whore… stupid bottom of the barrel trash.”
Aquaria urged her fans to lay off, branding people sending abuse “trash.”
Aquaria
She said: “Turns out a small amount of my fans don’t get the fucking picture even after I spelt it out in the most obvious words.
“If you are STILL mad at what The Vixen had to say then please jump off the Aquaria train because I’m driving away without y’all. Trash.
“If you are a racist fan of mine I don’t give a fuck about your existence and I am happy and proud to say that ”
In a statement she added: “The Vixen and I are both super strong and opinionated queens. We were definitely getting on each other’s nerves/ pushing each other’s buttons because this competition brings out a lot of emotions in all of us.
“I reacted the way I did because it was so overwhelming in that moment and I’m not always best at communicating my feelings and thoughts in general. I also understood what The Vixen had to say and I agreed with her on that.
“I think she had a very valid point about optics and even though I was aware of this issue before, I still learned something from our discussion and I think many people watching can learn from this as well. As in any family, sisters argue but that doesn’t make us any less family.”
