Wendy Williams sinks to new lows by ‘openly mocking’ victims of Drag Race’s Sherry Pie
Wendy Williams giggled her way through the segment
Wendy Williams has been called out by one of the men who accused Drag Race queen Sherry Pie of abuse – after her show’s surreal on-air response to the incident.
Sherry Pie, real name Joey Gugliemelli, was disqualified from the current 12th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race after five men accused her of catfishing them for explicit and “degrading” videos.
The scandal was covered by The Wendy Williams Show on March 9, in a segment featuring the host and comedian Michael Yo.
Wendy Williams giggles through catfishing segment.
During the segment, Yo and Williams both failed to contain their laughter as they discussed the claims against the queen, giggling through explanations of how the reality star would dupe men into lewd acts with the promise of starring in a fake film.
Yo added: “I mean, why didn’t these people do research? I’m not blaming them, but they’re young, they’re 23, 24 years old, trying to get their big break… so, man, you gotta do the research if someone reaches out to you like that.”
Ben Shikmus, one of the catfish victims, has since spoken out about the way the segment was handled.
Accuser speaks out after being ‘mocked openly on national TV’.
Writing for GayCities, he said: “I was mocked openly in this segment on national TV, by a presenter named Michael Yo during an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show.
“My story was told incorrectly, people laughed at me, and the conclusion at the end of the piece was dismissive and vapid.”
Shikmus said that the TV show had “made a joke out of my decision to come forward” and misled the audience as to the scale of the “lies and coercion” involved in the catfishing scam.
Wendy Williams invited comedian Michael Yo for the segment
He added: “When I watched this video clip of Michael Yo getting an audience to laugh at my story, I immediately became angry.
“With time to reflect, I am attempting to maintain moral integrity while not becoming bitter about this situation that has put me on national television. I’ve found other ways to interpret this moment.
“We need a revolution of love. That starts by listening to each others with an open heart before creating judgment. It continues by leveraging your anger into action done for good.I don’t wish ill will on Michael Yo. I hope he learns from this moment.
“We have a lot of work to do to advance our conversations around how we treat people who speak out against sexual harassment and coercion.”
On social media, people called out Williams – who has repeatedly come under fire in recent months over on-air incidents – including her rant about gay men wearing “women’s clothes.”
One Twitter user wrote: “This kind of victim humiliation and shaming has to stop and Wendy has clearly proven she is NOT a friend to the LGBTQ community. ”
Another added: “Oh look, another thing to throw on the pile of reasons why Wendy Williams shouldn’t have a platform… how big is that pile now?”
