Jinkx Monsoon.Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty
Theseason 5 champion — one of the triumphant queens currently competing ontheall-winners season ofRuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars— opened up toPopBuzzabout theDrag Raceonline fandom, admitting their experiences have been “fairly pressed.”
As an example, Monsoon pointed to remarks she’s heard from viewers online about their weight.
“My weight has nothing to do with the things that I’m good at,” said the entertainer, who identifies as non-binary andprefers she/her pronouns in drag and they/them pronouns outside of drag. “I’m a singer and an actor and a comedian. Nowhere in the job description of being a singer, an actor, and a comedian does it say you have to be thin. But for some reason, people really love commenting on the way my body has changed over the last decade and I don’t think that even needs to be part of the discussion.”
“When people say, ‘But you chose to do this, you chose to go into this arena’ — yeah, I chose to be an actor; I didn’t chose to have trolls on the internet comment on my body weight,” Monsoon explained.
“F— off. Leave us the f— alone,” they added. “My body is not for you to comment on.”
Monsoon was crowned the season 5 winner ofRuPaul’s Drag Raceback in 2013.
Since then, they’ve gone on to become one of the show’s most successful stars — with multiple albums (including 2014’sThe Inevitable Albumand 2018’sThe Ginger Snapped), a handful of one-woman shows, a documentary, and even a streaming special with frequent collaborator BenDeLaCreme (Hulu’sThe Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Special).
Jinkx Monsoon.Jamie McCarthy/Getty
And while Monsoon doesn’t appreciate certain parts of the fandom, they did say to PopBuzz that all that negativity disappears during in-person events.
“At countless meet-and-greets and countless events, any time I actually get to talk to the audience who comes to support me, what they say is that they appreciate the work that I do and the work that me and my sisters do because they’re able to see themselves represented through these drag queen weirdos and these clowns and these artists onstage and that it inspires them and helps them feel better about who they are as a person,” Monsoon said.
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As forAll Stars 7, coming back to the show that made her a star has been a positive experience for Monsoon.
“I think this is going to be an uplifting, very positive season, and I’m just honored to be a part of that,” they told PEOPLE, ahead of theAll Stars 7premiere. “It’s a season ofDrag Racethat really celebrates each of the competitors and relies less on failures and sending people home. It shows we can still have very good drag through celebrating one another rather than being cutthroat towards one another.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7is now streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes Fridays.
source: people.com
