Bob The Drag Queen addresses ‘race play’ controversy after backlash over resurfaced joke
Bob The Drag Queen has responded to social media backlash over a joke made about ‘race play’. (Getty)
Bob The Drag Queen has responded to social media backlash over a joke made about 'race play'. (Getty)
RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bob The Drag Queen has issued a statement after facing backlash over a joke made about ‘race play’.
Seven years ago, on an episode of Bob The Drag Queen’s podcast Sibling Rivalry, which they host with fellow Drag Race winner Monet X Change, the drag champ responded to a joke about race play by saying they found it “hot”.
Race play involves the consensual, sexual role-playing of racially-charged scenarios which lean into historical and harmful racial stereotypes. The practice involves playing into historical power dynamics between people of colour and white people, and often involves derogatory, racist language.
Despite urging at the time that they not partake in race play themselves, the audio clip of Bob joking about the concept resurfaced on social media recently, and amassed some social media backlash.
Fellow Drag Race competitor Mo Heart posted a video in which they dubbed the comments made on the podcast as “foolishness” and expressed their hope that it had been doctored with AI.
Yet in a new, three-minute video statement, Bob The Drag Queen confirmed the clip is real, and that they had made a joke that they “wouldn’t laugh at” today.
“To be clear, I was just joking,” Bob begins in the clip. “I also acknowledge that the jokes were harmful. I get that. I see that. Is that a joke that I find funny today? No. Is it a joke that I would tell today? No.”
The former The Traitors star said that at the time they found the joke “very funny”, but said that they refused to be the type of comedian who stood by their quips even if they had aged poorly.
“I want to be clear about one thing: I have never in my life engaged in race play. Ever, never, not once. You can search high, low, every corner of the earth. You will literally never find a single person who has ever engaged in race play with me because that has literally never happened once.”
“I know the clip is out there and I’m not denying that the clip was said. It’s my voice. It’s not AI. It was seven years ago, it was a joke that was told on my podcast, then I was agreeing with the joke and going along with the joke. Even then, in that moment, I cleared up that I don’t do that, that I haven’t done that, but that seems to be unclear.”
Bob confirmed that they no longer found the joke funny and wouldn’t laugh at it today.
“Maybe the joke just wasn’t funny to you. At the time, to me, it was funny. Today I probably wouldn’t laugh at it. Actually, I wouldn’t. But I did tell the joke. I hope this clears it up for you.”
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
