Michelle Visage addresses Drag Race Down Under queen’s use of abhorrent Blackface
Michelle Visage has addressed Drag Race Down Under’s Scarlet Adams and her historic Blackface controversy, saying “apologies were needed”. (WoW)
Michelle Visage has addressed a Drag Race Down Under queen’s abhorrent use of Blackface.
Scarlet Adams, who is part of the first cast of the Australian and New Zealand Drag Race spin-off, apologised in March for performing in Blackface and engaging in cultural appropriation after being called out on social media.
Adams said she was “deeply ashamed” of her mistakes, which she said took place when she was “young” and “ignorant”.
Visage said in an interview with Metro that she was unaware of Adams’ old photos, but she thought “apologies were necessary”. She said she knew that Adams “apologised and that’s it”.
“I say this to my own children, you have to think about why you do things and what you do, and I think it’s important for people to take responsibility,” Visage said. “So I think that apologies were made, apologies were necessary.”
Visage warned people to think carefully about what they do and post online, because it only takes “one person” to “drop that little gem they’ve been holding onto”, and “everything could be taken away from you”.
“Everyone needs to be held responsible,” she added.
In a different interview about Drag Race Down Under with Gay Times, Visage said she thinks Drag Race fans will be “blown away” by the upcoming series. She said that she and RuPaul were “do glad” to head down under because they love Australian and New Zealand culture. Visage said Drag Race Down Under will pay homage to the “incredible films and people” who have come from that region of the world.
“I’m so glad that we were absolutely able to get it done, and I think you’re gonna be blown away,” Visage said.
She added that she was “sad when we wrapped” up the series because it was “so good” and “so strong”.
Drag Race Down Under will premiere on BBC iPlayer on Sunday (2 May).
