After Backlash Over Rape Joke, 'Drag Race' Champ Bianca Del Rio Defends Herself

"RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio is defending herself in the midst of a backlash that ensued after she made jokes at a recent standup gig about "Drag Race" Season 10 star Blair St. Clair's admission she was raped while on the show.

The moment came during Del Rio's set at Montreal Pride last week. The comedian was making fun of "Drag Race" Season 10's queens, saying they were "all crying" throughout the season, Billboard reports.

"You got the one going 'Ugh, I'm fat.' Then you got the other one going 'Ugh, I'm a black queen,' " she said, referring to season 10 contestants Eureka O'Hara and The Vixen.

Del Rio then took aim at St. Clair and when she revealed she was sexually assaulted on stage during the elimination segment before the judges.

"Then you got that other bitch, 'I was raped!' No, fuck you," Del Rio said. "You notice she wasn't raped until she was in the bottom two? Think about that, bitch -- that's fucking strategy ... And if you weren't raped, remember this -- you're ugly."

After making her comments, the crowd's reaction feels tense with members of the audience gasping. Watch the moment via The Wrap below.

Del Rio's comments sparked major discussion in the "Drag Race" community, with some queens taking the comic to task about making fun of assault victims and others defending her sense of dark humor. (RuPaul herself has not weighed in.) Though she didn't mention Del Rio directly, St. Clair eventually tweeted about the controversy.

Additionally, organizers behind Montreal Pride issued a statement, saying they were publicly distancing themselves from Del Rio's jokes.

"The Montr�al Pride Festival would like to severely disassociate itself from certain remarks made during the Drag Superstars show on Thursday, August 16th, 2018," it wrote on Facebook. "The approach of certain sensitive themes, presented in the form of so-called jokes, in no way reflects the policies of our organization and we apologize to anyone who has experienced discomfort due to these events."

On Monday, Del Rio responded to the controversy in an interview with Hornet, defending herself by saying she wasn't claiming St. Clair's story was not true but that she found it suspect that the queen brought up before elimination.

"I wasn't questioning the validity of anyone's personal struggles, but bringing it up right before you 'lip sync for your life' was strategic ... in my opinion," she said. "Back in the day, when a man in a wig had to 'lip sync for their life,' they relied on a wig reveal, rose petals or picking up their opponent and twirling them around. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for the old days when drag was fun, not personal."

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