RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 star Brooke Lynn Hytes ‘sorry’ for blackface post
Brooke Lyn Hytes appears on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11
Just days before the launch of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11, contestant Brooke Lynn Hytes has been forced to apologise for a blackface Instagram post.
Brooke Lynn Hytes, one of the 15 new queens taking part in the upcoming season of the drag reality show, has come under fire over the resurfaced post from 2013.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 star Brooke Lynn Hytes posed with blackface drag queen
In the 2013 post to her Instagram page, the Canadian drag star posed with Toronto performer Daytona B***h, who is in blackface.
The drag star, real name Brock Hayhoe, posted the photo with the caption: “There are no words. :@daytona_bitch #love #dragqueens #blackface.”
Brooke Lynn Hytes came under fire over her 2013 Instagram post that included the hashtags #love #blackface
The post resurfaced ahead of the RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 premiere on February 28, forcing the drag star to issue an apology.
In a public statement on Instagram, Brooke Lynn Hytes said: “It recently came to my attention that an old photo of me with another drag queen who is in blackface surfaced.
“This post was irresponsible on my part; it was rooted in ignorance and came from a place of naivety and privilege.
“I take responsibility for this and deeply apologize to everyone. In the six years since this post have learned, grown and evolved as a person and am ashamed that this less informed version of myself might be some followers’ first impression of me and what stand for.”
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Blackface post was ‘uninformed mistake’
The post from 2013 appears to have now been deleted.
Brooke Lynn Hytes added: “That post was an uninformed mistake that is not indicative of my politics or beliefs. However, my lack of understanding back then is no excuse. know I should have done better at that time.”
The drag star contined: “I absolutely do not condone any form of racism, including but not limited to blackface, and it saddens me to think about how I have contributed to these harmful ideals in the past.
“It pains me to know that I might have disappointed and hurt my fans and sisters. I hope you can accept my apology and give me a chance to show you who I truly am today.”
Daytona B***h, the drag star posing with Brooke Lynn Hytes in the post, was fired from Toronto Pride in 2013 after controversy over her blackface performances.
The photos first resurfaced on Reddit, where Drag Race fans hit out at “racist tom-foolery” from the reality star.
Another fan added: “I’m sorry, but blackface was no more acceptable in 2013 than it is now. It’s like when people say the n-word and apologise saying it was a ‘mistake.’
“Racial epithets or excusing blackface are not ‘mistakes’ that just occur in a vacuum and are not things the average person has done. This isn’t about some overreaching PC culture; this is about not engaging in basic, near-universally recognised racist behaviour.”
