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RuPaul's Drag Race season 7 cast member Pearl has apologized after facing backlash for doing "blackface." On Thursday, August 10, the drag performer posted an image in which she had fully tanned skin, large lips, and long pink nails. Pearl captioned the image, “Skipper’s all grown up now.”
Pride reports that many fans have criticized her for donning “blackface” and “blackfishing.” Soon after, Pearl deleted the Instagram posted and posted an apology. She stated that she was “inspired by Caucasian people.”
“I’d like to address the drag character I posted this morning. it was not my intention to do blackface, I thought the concept of the character would be clear to anyone who saw it, which was ignorant on my part, for which I am sorry. just to be clear, every aspect of the character was inspired by caucasian people, there was no black-influence going on in my mind during the time of conception,” Pearl wrote on Instagram.
“But now I see the people that inspired the character are/have been problematic, and by dressing up and parodying as them, I to am contributing to the issue in its own way, something I hadn’t thought of and don’t want to contribute to,” she added.
Pearl further explained that she wanted to portray a “platinum blonde/blue eyes” woman with a “2000s Britney-esque tan.”
Pearl's "Blackface" controversy was also discussed by former RuPaul's Drag Race contestants
During RuPaul's Drag Race season 10, The Vixen, who placed seventh in the competition, also reacted to Pearl's post.
"When people carelessly play with blackface and using slurs etc I think the public outrage overshadows the private hurt that we go through. These daily reminders that this world isn't safe, welcoming, or sensitive to our feelings is overwhelming," TheVixen said.
Silky Nutmeg Ganache, who finished third in RuPaul's Drag Race season 11, also shared her views on the issue. On Silky Nutmeg Ganache's Twitter page, she shared Pearl's photo and captioned it:
"RuPaul should've just talked to her off camera cause now she mocking RuPaul in her younger years."
RuPaul's Drag Race star Silky Nutmeg Ganache's post referenced Pearl and RuPaul's feud in season seven. As reported by Gay Times, both stars were not fans of one another during this period, and Pearl claims RuPaul "disrespected" her many times.
Aquaria, who won RuPaul's Drag Race season 10, also commented on Pearl's apology post and said:
"No shade and not meaning to get into things as I know u don’t mean harm but also u were the color of ur coffee and I’ve never seen a fake tan pumped girl with such a cool and natural undertone across the body— I think people know u like to explore that character but I think it’s usually a bit easier for others to understand if it’s a less realistic shade for someone’s natural skin."
Fans can watch all of RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 episodes on MTV. The show's episodes are also available on fuboTV, VH1, and Hulu Plus. In addition, Drag Race Wiki reports that season 16 of the show will premiere on January 5, 2024.
