Barbie stars attend West Hollywood Pride on stunning pink float… and it’s fantastic
Barbie co-stars Alexandra Shipp (L) and Scott Evans (R) brought the camp to WeHo’s Pride parade. (Getty)
LGBTQ+ legends Scott Evans and Alexandra Shipp proved Barbie is already the campest summer movie after attending West Hollywood’s Pride parade on an explosively pink float.
The plastic fantastic comedy, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, will realise Barbie and Ken’s full camp potential, with a jam-packed killer soundtrack and a Barbieland so pink it accidentally caused an international pink-paint shortage.
As promotion for the film gets underway, co-stars Shipp and Evans showed the gays why it is going to be this summer’s must-watch film, with a delightfully camp display at the parade on Sunday (4 June).
The film has cast several secondary Barbie and Ken dolls – including Shipp as a celebrated author and Evans as… just another Ken, albeit in a cowboy hat. The cast also stars Hari Nef, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, America Ferrera and Nicola Coughlan, among others.
The float, helmed by Shipp and Evans, sported a blown-up Barbie logo and release date plastered on the front, two disco balls protruding from behind, baskets full of Barbie and Pride flag logos, and – to top it all off – they were joined by drag queen Lolita Colby and queer internet personality Jazzmyne Jay.
Best known for her role as Storm in the X-Men films, Shipp stunned in an electric-pink, two-piece with matching starry earrings. Meanwhile, Evans, the gay brother of Captain America star Chris, pulled off a tropical shirt with bright pink shorts, and, of course, both donned rainbow fans to celebrate queer joy. If that’s not a statement that Barbie is for everyone, then we don’t know what is.
Shipp publically came out as queer during Pride month in 2021 in an Instagram post where she told her fans she was now ready to be “exactly who I want to be”. And in a post following this year’s Pride, she wrote: “Looking out at a sea of beautiful LGBTQ+ faces and seeing their smiles and their happiness to be truly who they are felt like f••king magic.
“Since coming out, I’ve never been able to make WeHo Pride because of work. Being there this weekend has been the best feeling ever.”
Evans, who starred in ABC soap One Life to Live, wooed fans after teaming up with his brother to support LGBTQ+ youth charity It Gets Better in November.
The annual Pride parade, which travels through the heart of gay village West Hollywood saw other celebrities awarded for their LGBTQ+ advocacy.
The Little Mermaid‘s Melissa McCarthy landed the ally icon award, Dahmer – Monster‘s Niecy Nash-Betts and wife Jessica were named trailblazer icons, trans actor Laith Ashley, who starred as Taylor Swift’s love interest in her “Lavender Haze” video, picked up the award for breakthrough icon and RuPaul’s Drag Race scooped the drag icon gong.
As for Barbie, the all-around immaculate vibes confirm it will be the campest extravaganza sinceMamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again. So whether you tune into see trans actor Nef fulfill her doll-like dreams, Gosling go full himbo or Sex Education stars Gatwa, Emma Mackey and Connor Swindells have a mini-reunion, buckle up for a cinematic masterpiece.
Barbie is due to open on 21 July.
