Here's Why 'Drag Race's Aquaria & Pearl Are Fighting On Social Media
This drama took place after Pearl was accused of doing blackface.
VH1; Logo TV
Best known for competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven, Pearl was accused of doing blackface after posting a series of pictures on Instagram.
The pictures in question were from a character that Pearl has done in the past. However, the photos shared on Thursday, August 10 had this character’s skin color looking much deeper than in previous iterations. After deleting all of the Instagram pictures that caused Pearl to be accused of blackface and/or blackfishing, the season seven queen shared an explanation via Instagram story.
“The character I posted this morning was not meant to resemble any other background other than my own,” she wrote. “She’s platinum blonde/blue eyes and meant to have 2000s Britney-esque tan. I certainly didn’t mean to hurt anyone and will refrain from using any kind of tan at all when creating characters in the future. I’ve removed the post as to not continue to offend people.”
Alas, the drama did not end there.
In a subsequent post (which has also been deleted), Pearl further explained her reasons for deepening the skin tone of the character, but this time offered an apology as well. The Drag Race star wrote, “Not trying to drag this out but 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,” she continued. “There was no Black influence going on in my mind during the time of conception. But now I see the people that inspired the character are/have been problematic. By dressing up and parodying as them, I too am contributing to the issue in its own way, something I hadn’t thought of and don’t want to contribute to.”
Pearl concluded, “I’ve felt creatively stumped for a while and it may be due to the fact that some of these characters are kind of tired and just aren’t aging well, so I’m going to look at this as an opportunity to grow from the experience and expand myself creatively. If anyone would like me to clear anything else up, I’m happy to respond here. Hopefully, this can be a positive and safe space to learn and grow.”
Aquaria took to the comments to share her point of view in reaction to Pearl’s subsequent statement and apology.
“No shade and not meaning to get into things as I know you don’t mean harm, but also you were the color of your coffee and I’ve never seen a fake tan pumped girl with such a cool and natural undertone across the body,” the Drag Race season 10 winner commented. “I think people know you 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 (like something a bit more orange). I think it’s also fair to assume hopefully you saw that before posting as well. Not trying to dogpile but people have come for me for far lighter and I’d imagined you didn’t mean harm, but we’re also both not blind or idiots.”
The comment left by Aquaria clearly didn’t sit well with Pearl, who took the time to respond in the comments section.
Pearl replied to Aquaria, “No shade but you might be the last person who needs to weigh in on this – I couldn’t hold a candle to the drama you have gotten yourself into, so to see you here projecting is really awkward and twisted. You are nobody to comment on my cosplay when you have been cosplaying me your whole damn career. To be clear, I do not care what you think about the situation or how I’ve chosen to handle it. My apology is not at all intended for you babe, so just keep texting your friends about me. Thanks for your input.”
UPDATE: Aquaria responds to Pearl's rejection of her apology.
Reddit - Dive into anything
"Okay wierdo," wrote the season 10 winner.
