RuPaul once claimed he watched a man drown in Hudson River
RuPaul (Image: Getty Images)
A bizarre interview where RuPaul talks about once watching a man drown has recently resurfaced, and it is wild.
In an interview with BuzzFeed in 2015, the drag superstar sat down to discuss his childhood, wanting RuPaul’s Drag Race to launch in the UK (it launched on the BBC in 2019, and it was confirmed this week it would be leaving the network) the gay scene and concerns over multiple venues closing over the years.
Pretty standard talking points.
But the interview seemed to take an odd turn after Ru shared that he initially wanted to do something about the clubs closing.
He said: “There was a part of me in New York years ago that thought, ’I’ve got to change this, I’ve gotta help them [the clubs].’” But then, he says, he thought: “Oh no, you do it. I’ve had my party.”
Ru then segued into an anecdote, adding: “I remember once I had this place that overlooked the Hudson River, and I saw this guy on a sailboat and it had capsized and I went to the phone thinking, ‘I’ve got to call someone.’
“But then I thought, ’What’s the best thing I can do? You know what? I’m gonna pray for this person. I’m gonna send them loving energy.’”
Then he circled back to the topic of gay clubs closing, stating that if the clubs were saveable, the community would’ve been paying money to go there: “Let life be life. If you want to change the world, change yourself.”
The reporter makes it clear that RuPaul didn’t clarify whether the man survived or not.
However, it isn’t 100% clear whether he was being serious or not, with some believing that the anecdote was a metaphor for people not saving the clubs in New York City while they were open.
RuPaul also added: “I was a teenager in the disco era. I’ve seen it come and go. Yeah, things are gonna close.
“Gay people come and make things really pretty and rich people say ‘I want that’ and they take it and it’s fine. I’ve had my party. And you young f*****, if you wanna party, go make a party.”
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