August 28, 2015
RuPaul Scolds, but Shows Support for Tyra Sanchez
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RuPaul has weighed in on Tyra Sanchez's controversial interchange with a fan.
"The controversy began when Sanchez tweeted 'go kill yourself'" to a Twitter user who called her 'annoying,'" . "Sanchez's comment was met with harsh criticism via social media, given the high suicide rate among LGBT teens."
Activists demanded Sanchez resign. Instead Sanchez double-downed, tweeting, "If you want to kill yourself, go ahead it's your life. Am I gonna be sympathetic for you & give pity? I think not. Too busy living MY life."
"We feel that Tyra Sanchez's recent comments about suicide and mental illness warrants for a complete removal of her name and face from any RuPaul's Drag Race events," it reads.
"Her blatant disrespect for the victims and family members of people who have committed suicide is nothing short of disgusting and cruel.
"Many people in the LGBT community, especially our youth, struggle with mental illness, self-harm, and suicide. The last thing they need is for a supposed 'role model' to make them feel any worse than they already do."
The petition was signed by nearly 2000 people.
On Wednesday, RuPaul commented on the controversy on the podcast she puts out with Michelle Visage.
'I think that what happened was there is a certain level of reverence and camp in what sometimes is said out loud which is not meant for mixed company,' RuPaul said.
'Twitter is not the place for that. People don't get nuance on Twitter, you can't do irony on Twitter, people won't get it.'
Michelle agreed, saying she herself private messaged Tyra to tell her that Drag Race fans are looking to her as a role model,
"I told her, 'I don't think it's smart for your career'," she said. "On Twitter, you don't hear inflection, you don't hear snark, you don't hear sarcasm...
"Guys, she didn't mean that, she didn't mean to go, 'Go kill yourself', she said it like you would with your friends. Like saying, 'Ru, go play in traffic'. You've said that to me a million times - 'Go play in traffic'. It's funny, and we laugh, but if you say it on Twitter, it doesn't read that way. That's not the forum, sweetheart....
"It's so interesting as we go on in this age of social media and where everybody has a voice, there's a level of diplomacy that I try to teach my girls.
"There's a certain amount of diplomacy and protocol and style that you have to learn when you're dealing with a bigger audience."
