'Drag Race' Alum Katya Stands by Controversial Tweets

"RuPaul's Drag Race" alum Katya sparked controversy on Wednesday when she posted "FREE PALESTINE" on X (formerly Twitter).

Katya, whose full drag name is Katya Zamolodchikova, was quickly blasted for her comment. "You should visit Gaza, I am sure they are going to like you over there. All chopped parts of you," wrote X user Turbo Turtle. Others joined in by telling Katya that LGBTQ+ culture is a crime in Gaza.

But Katya double-downed in another tweet. "And to those ignorant fools who have the nerve to tell me I would be decapitated in a heartbeat in Gaza: what about Glasgow? What about Moscow? What about Medford, Malden or Marlborough Massachusetts? As a gay person who can't pass, as a cross-dresser, as a sissy–they have, they do and they will kill us anywhere. Bitch."

X's community notes correct Katya's post to say that Scotland records 50-60 murders annually and 1% had a homophobic or racist motive (hate crime). One user responded: "Not one single trans person has ever been killed in Glasgow, or anywhere else in Scotland. Not a single solitary in all of recorded history since mankind crawled out of the oceans. Calm yourself down, sir."

But Katya was quick to respond, asking about harassment. "But do you have any idea how many people are harassed there? How unsafe it was for me to walk one block from the hotel to my gig because I risked getting assaulted by a group of drunk rugby fans? Or being surrounded in an elevator by ignorant Scottish men threatening me? You can calm down, and get a grip–as if there's an accurate official record on anything like this"

But Katya's most recent post alluded to the risks in taking sides on any issue. "Know this, said the fool. Life is a game. And the moment you pick a side–that is precisely, undeniably and tragically, the moment you've lost." –Unknown

On her website, Katya describes herself as the ""Sweatiest Woman in Show Business." Her bio continues: "She cohosts the wildly-popular YouTube series "UNHhhh" along with the Netflix digital series "I Like to Watch," and is a NY Times best-selling co-author of "Trixie and Katya's Guide To Modern Womanhood" (written with Trixie Mattell). Katya recently completed a sold-out 80+ stop global theater tour and released her first TV standup special from that tour, "Help Me I'm Dying."

Katya's real life name is Brian Joseph McCook. He was raised outside of Boston, studied video and performance at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she discovered drag and her Russian identity influenced by one of her professors. (McCook is not Russian by birth.) She went on to host a popular Boston drag show called "Perestroika." She auditioned for "Drag Race" four times before being picked for Season 7, finishing fifth but being named Miss Congeniality by fans. In 2016 she returned to the franchise for the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars where she finished second behind Detox.