Latest news with #DragQueens
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
‘All Stars 10' Reminds Us That Drag Race Verses Are A Brand Strategy
RuPaul's Drag Race, like many other reality competition shows, has recurring challenges that fans eagerly anticipate each season. For example, in addition to Drag Race contestants needing to bring looks to fit their runway themes, there are several challenges that they have to prepare for. Of course, some challenges are meant to be fresh and new to keep the audience engaged, but every fan of Drag Race knows there's going to be 4 challenges that the queens are going to have to survive if they want a chance at winning the crown. The first being the sewing challenge where queens have to make an outfit from scratch, the second being the snatch game where the contestants have to do a funny improved impersonation of an iconic character or personality alongside their competitors, the second being the roast where the queens have to make fun of a particular host, guest, or their fellow contestants, and the final challenge being the girl group challenge where the contestants music work together to make a convincing song with their teammates and still manage to stand out. MILAN, ITALY - NOVEMBER 12: Mistress Isabelle Brooks performs RuPaul's Drag Race: Werq The World ... More Tour at Mediolanum Forum of Assago on November 12, 2023 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) This time around, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10 elected to combine the roast challenge and the girl group challenge, dubbing it the 'Rappin' Roast.' The queens were tasked with performing a song where they rapped and roasted their fellow contestants. This added a new layer to two already iconic staples in the Drag Race franchise that had already shown in prior seasons to be difficult for even the best of competitors in the show. Stacked with masters of shade like Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Nicole Paige Brooks, and Jorgeous, this challenge required not only wit, but cadence and memorable verses. From iconic songs in Drag Race's history like Break Up Bye Bye made famous by the Frock Destroyers in the first season of Drag Race Uk and the legendary Read U Wrote U from the final four of Drag Race All Stars 2, the contestants are no strangers to the opportunities that songs on the show can bring. There isn't a single long-time fan of Drag Race that doesn't know the lyrics 'Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, but your dad just calls me Katya.' That line, again from Read U Wrote U, gave Katya of Season 7 of Drag Race, All Stars 2, and Unhhh fame a direct link to her fans to show them her persona, creativity, and branding all at once. These songs, which later get added to streaming platforms, keep queens top of mind with fans and keep them engaged for if said queens ever release music on their own. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 1: In this image released on October 1, Shea Couleé is seen ... More onstage during Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 presented by Amazon Prime Video at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on October 2, 2020. (Photo byfor Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Presented by Amazon Prime Video) Shea Coulee, from season 9 of Drag Race and the winner of All Stars 5, released an EP after performing Category Is… with her castmates. Doing that offered her an avenue that inevitably led to her first EP Couleé-D while her season was still top of mind, building upon her brand and showing fans that she versatile in more than just her looks on the runway. With All Stars 10 steady underway and queens teasing new music, alongside other queens, like Megami from season 16 of Drag Race and Ocean Kelly, a well known performer and rapper in the Drag Race orbit, who aren't on the latest season of the show but are branding themselves by admitting they helped write and shape several of the verses fans are hearing on the stage, expanding their platforms and clientele if the verses are well received and future contestants come to them for ghostwriting. What started as a fun and quirky challenge has turned into an entire expansion for queens to build their brands and start their musical platforms. All Stars 10 continues to prove that these challenges are always more than just being about winning or losing; they're a vehicle for reinvention.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘RuPaul's Drag Race' Doesn't Need A Rainbow Logo To Celebrate Pride
There's a running joke on social media when pride month rolls around. When the clocks strikes 12 on June 1st, companies across the planet will change their logos to reflect the pride flag. Whether it's a joke or not, most consumers understand that queer representation is important and while Pride month may only be 30 days long, and while many people appreciate the highlighted shows and films that show up under the 'inspiring stories' tabs on our favorite streaming platforms, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' doesn't need to change it's logo or release special merchandise when June rolls around. More than just a reality tv show or a franchise, RuPaul's Drag Race consistently remains an unapologetically and authentically queer show that has become a global phenomenon. RuPaul takes the stage during the taping of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 in Culver City JULY 31, ... More 2009. The television show's host, drag queen RuPaul mentors then judges a set of young drag queens during several competitions in their quest to become the ultimate drag queen (Photo by Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Since its debut in 2009 on Logo TV, Drag Race has been unapologetic in its showcase of the LGBT+ community and drag culture as a whole where other shows might struggle with consistency. With the show starting as a small with a low budget and a filter that OG fans are still trying to wrap their heads around, Drag Race shared with viewers a multitude of queens that had powerful stories that tugged at the hearts of viewers, we've been introduced to moments of authenticity that didn't shy away from being heartwarming and even heartbreaking at times. With multiple contestants over the years coming forward with their positive HIV status to help decrease the stigma on people living with a positive diagnosis and encouraging people to know their status, Drag Race has helped save the lives of viewers who were previously too afraid to get tested or too afraid to talk about their status; Drag Race has been a megaphone where silence was expected. Several contestants, both during, after, and even when returning to the show, have talked about how drag has helped them explore their own gender identity, with multiple queens coming out as trans and gender non-conforming in the show's 17-season tenure. Even contestants that have returned to the show multiple to times to compete have come out and talked about how they've been able to transition due to drag allowing them to explore their identity without judgment. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 15: RuPaul (C) with cast and crew accept the Outstanding Reality ... More Competition Program award for "RuPaul's Drag Race" onstage during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on January 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by) Even with the everchanging public opinion on queer artistry and the LGBT+ community in general, Drag Race has never compromised or toned down it's queer authenticity and that, arguably, is the reason why it is the most decorated reality tv show with the most Emmys, including awards for outstanding host for RuPaul himself. What started off as a fun project that RuPaul felt would never be mainstream has become a global phenomenon that encompasses all of the ideals of Pride Month year round. Drag Race, like many of its contestants, has managed to turn a stage built on authenticity into a currency that's profitable, a formula that has managed to create multiple spin-offs, both domestically and internationally. 'Throughout our culture, there are little windows and pockets of time when people are open,' RuPaul said in a recently resurfaced clip of 'In Bed With Joan' when talking about the success of Drag Race. '… And I think the success of our show is a part of that openness.'
CBC
21-02-2025
- CBC
Court awards $380K to pride organization, drag queens in northwestern Ontario defamation suit
A blogger in Thunder Bay, Ont., has been ordered by Ontario's Superior Court of Justice to pay $380,000 in damages, after making Facebook posts in 2022 accusing drag performers of grooming children. The judgment was made on two separate, related libel cases, and was issued Thursday by Justice Helen M. Pierce after being heard in the northwestern Ontario city on Jan. 31 via ZOOM. The cases relate to Facebook posts made in September 2022 and December 2022 by blogger Brian Webster on a page called "Real Thunder Bay Courthouse – Inside Edition." The page is no longer active. The first post references CBC News coverage of an upcoming drag event in Dryden, which was then cancelled following an unfounded prank call. Sharing screenshots of the news story, Webster called the drag queens involved in the event "groomers." In the December 2022 post, Webster referenced an upcoming drag storytime event in Thunder Bay and referred to "local drag queens who have been criminally charged with child pornography." No such charges were laid. In her decision, Pierce describes Webster's behaviour as that of a "common bully." "There is a pattern of homophobic/transphobic conduct by the defendant's publication, both before and after the offending posts," Pierce said in court documents obtained by CBC News. The plaintiffs include the organization Rainbow Alliance Dryden and drag performers Caitlin Hartlen, Felicia Crichton and John-Marcel Forget. They were represented by Douglas Judson and Peter Howie of Judson Howie LLP in Fort Frances. "My first reaction was tears. I just cried a whole bunch," said Forget, who has been performing drag for more than 20 years as Lady Fantasia LaPremiere, of the court's decision. "Just knowing that we were doing something that could potentially make it easier for other people to stand up for themselves and to maybe make it so that people would think twice before posting untruths about people that they don't like — especially people that they don't even know." Fighting against rhetoric, discrimination The Facebook posts were not the only attacks on drag storytime events in the region; two separate bomb threats were made against the Thunder Bay Public Library last year ahead of Storytime with Thunder Bay Drag Queens. "I just always thought 'if you don't like storytime with drag queens, don't come to storytime with drag queens,'" Forget said. "I'm not a huge fan of sports and hockey, but you don't see me bashing people who are interested in that; I just don't go to hockey games." Judson, who is one of the directors of Borderland Pride, called the court's judgment a "landmark decision." "I think it's coming at a really important time for the 2SLGBTQAA+ community, which is very much under political assault from the right, right now in Canada and in the United States," Judson said. "I think that it's a good reminder that we have legal tools, especially here in Canada, to protect vulnerable minorities." While "groomer rhetoric" has a long history as a slur targeting 2SLGBTQAA+ people, Judson said, "the false allegation that people are engaging in sexual impropriety or are pedophiles, it is patently defamatory." His hope is that the judgment sends a message to people in northwestern Ontario that they can be held accountable for their actions on social media, even if they post anonymously. WATCH | Lady Fantasia looks back on 20 year-dragiversary Lady Fantasia looks back on 20 year-dragiversary 11 months ago Duration 7:49 Forget has been the target of bullying for much of his life, and said going through the court process triggered a lot of heavy emotions. "Just constantly having to defend my existence, it kind of started to wear on my mental health a little bit," he said. "Standing up for yourself is never really easy, but it's always worth it." He said he wants others in the 2SLGBTQAA+ community to know they're not alone. "There are people out there who are fighting for your right to just live the way you want to live and love the way you want to love."
