Former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Pearl Liaison (left) is catching heat for wearing blackface makeup.
Pearl, who is white, sparked outrage after posting several photos that show him wearing blackface to imitate a much younger RuPaul.
Pearl captioned the photos: “Skipper’s all grown up now.”
Pearl, whose real name is Matthew Lent, was slammed by drag race star The Vixen for wearing blackface.
“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,” Drag Race season 10 star The Vixen wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
In another deleted tweet, The Vixen, who is Black, added: “White people paint their skin the shade of people who have to defend their skin shade and [they’re] surprised they have to defend their choice.”
Okay let’s run with what Pearl said about this not being blackface but rather it’s meant to just be a woman with a bad tan. I think white people need to be more conscious of how things like this come off regardless of intent pic.twitter.com/SjW3U5aFFB
— EssenceofDrag (@EssenceofDrag) August 10, 2023
Season 11 drag queen Silky Nutmeg Ganache reposted the photo, saying, “RuPaul should’ve just talked to her off camera ’cause now she mocking Ru in her younger years.”
Following the backlash, Pearl apologized in an Instagram Story, insisting that the character in his photos was “not meant to resemble any background other than my own.”
“She’s platinum blonde/blue eyes & meant to have 2000’s Britney-esque tan,” Pearl added. “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 [so] as to not continue to offend people.”
