What’s the tea? Social media has been buzzing as accusations of diva-like behavior have been hurled against some named and unnamed RuPaul’s Drag Race queens.
On July 19th, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9 Star Valentina performed at PLAY in Nashville. On July 20th, Nashville-based queen and current Gay Miss USofA Aurora Sexton spilled a drop of tea on Facebook. She posted simply, “Disappointed…” with a rose emoji. #vaguebooking #amiright
Many fans thought that the post was throwing shade at Valentina because of the rose emoji. But if that post was shady, Aurora’s next post was pitch-black. Aurora essentially posted a novella of grievances with certain unnamed season 9 queens. Not to temper the dramatic effect by paraphrasing, but she basically said they were totally rude, unprofessional divas that were hard to work with. She also provided some suspiciously specific examples of their diva-like behavior. @DragRaceWorld shared her post on Instagram.
Who is she talking about?
Aurora said she was talking about specific season 9 queens, and emphasized that she was not talking about just one person.
We may be able to narrow it down a little more though. It looks like the only season 9 queens to perform at PLAY this month were Sasha Velour, Trinity Taylor, and Valentina.
What the Queens are saying…
Fellow season 9 contestant and total enigma Charlie Hines criticized Aurora for “pull punches” without “naming names.”
Well-respected and generally drama-averse queen Chad Michaels commented that Aurora’s post was “every ounce truth.” Fan-Favorite Cynthia Lee Fontaine said that she agreed with Aurora’s post and respected her for posting it. So basically, Chad Michaels and Cynthia Lee Fontaine vouch for the fact that it’s true that certain multiple unnamed season 9 contestants did these diva things. I feel no closer to the truth. Do you?
Pandora Boxx cautioned the unspecified season 9 contestants, “Enjoy Season 9 while it lasts. No one is going to put up with that after S10 and All Stars 3.” Cool. So in just 12 to 18 months, after both season 10 of Drag Race AND season 3 of All Stars have aired, we can figure out which season 9 queens don’t have bookings, and THEN we’ll know what Aurora (and apparently Chad Michaels and Cynthia Lee Fontaine) could have told us in two seconds on July 20th. Seems like a pretty solid plan B.
Season 9 contestants Ferrah Moan and Nayasha Lopez were quick to point the finger at Valentina. Ferreh Moan commented, “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes and Yes!!!!! Everything you said.” She then posted a GIF of a burning rose. Season 9 contestant Nayasha Lopez commented, “Most of us know you’re talking about Valentina. I wish you would just say it though because not all Ru Girls…are like that…IT’S VALENTINA!!!”
We reached out to Valentina for comment but she (very graciously) said she planned to address the rumors with the club directly.
Alaska and Willam made light of the situation on Twitter. Alaksa tweeted, “I like red M&Ms,” and Willam responded, “I like champagne.” Sharon Needles added the kicker later, tweeting, “I like to work.”
A photographer says it was Valentina
On July 20th photographer Julio Leonel Bonilla posted to Facebook that he was feeling heartbroken, and stated:
"“As a MASSIVE Valentina fan…I have never in my life seen [expletive] like last night. Kudos to everyone that works at PLAY for making it through. I’ve never been so disappointed in a performer. I have fought tooth and nail with people to defend her…but…jokes on me. The amount of diva that is Valentina…is just indescribable. Never again.”"
Oh, the SHADE of it all…
According to Bonilla, after Valentina finished performing, Drag Queen Brook Lynne began lip-syncing to “Greedy” by Ariana Grande, the song that sent Valentina home. Bonilla said that Aurora Sexton dressed as Selena and sang “Biddi Biddi Bom Bom.” Valentina has said that she aspires to be the next Selena to her people, and the crowd had no trouble making the connection.
Here’s the weird thing though…if they had no beef with Valentina prior to her alleged diva-like behavior the night of her performance, why did they plan such shady-shade sets? Is it possible that this was all a rouse, and they planned to cast Valentina as an evil diva all along? (I genuinely have no idea, please DM me if you do).
PLOT TWIST
The real gag is that Valentina isn't the one that demanded the red M&Ms. 🙊
— Bitter Betty (@missbitterbetty) July 24, 2017
On Monday, drag queen Sara Andrews posted a drop-the-mic style tweet when she wrote, “The real gag is that Valentina isn’t the one that demanded the red M&Ms.” This casts doubt on Bonilla’s account. It also supports Aurora’s claim that she was talking about more than one queen. Unfortunately for Valentina though, the Twitterverse does not seem motivated to name other possible suspects. They have picked their villain. Let’s be honest, her fate was sealed when she landed Vogue.
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The real issue here
WHAT DOES A QUEEN HAVE TO DO TO GET SOME RED M&M’S AND CHAMPAGNE!? (Asking for a friend).