‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Star Bianca Del Rio Booed for ‘Jokes’ About Rape

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Bianca Del Rio was criticized over a comedy routine at Montreal Pride on Friday which included several jokes about rape and fellow “Drag Race” contestant Blair St. Clair’s experience with sexual assault.

“Then you’ve got that other bitch, ‘I was raped!'” said Del Rio of St. Clair, suggesting that the claim was intended to boost her sagging position on the show. “You notice she wasn’t raped until she was in the bottom two? Think about that, bitch. That’s strategy. that’s f—ing strategy!”

“Oh f— you, rape is funny if you haven’t had it,” Del Rio said before delivering the kicker.

Also Read: RuPaul on How 'Drag Race' Maintains an Outsider Edge Despite Mainstream Success

“If you weren’t raped, remember this, you’re ugly. Oh, we’re supposed to have sympathy? F— you.”

The remarks drew a lot of laughs — but also some boos — and an immediate rebuke from St. Clair.

“In the U.S. someone is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes, but people persist in thinking that making rape or sexual assault jokes is ‘comedy.’ It is not,” she said in a tweet which swiftly went viral. “Rape jokes contribute to rape culture.”

In the U.S. someone is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes, but people persist in thinking that making rape or sexual assault jokes is “comedy.” It is not. Rape jokes contribute to rape culture.

— Blair St. Clair (@BlairStClair) August 18, 2018

Also Read: RuPaul to Shoot Daytime Talk Show Pilot for Telepictures

In addition to St. Clair’s statement, Montreal Pride apologized on its Facebook page for the Del Rio routine and moved to “severely disassociate” itself from the remarks.

“The Montréal Pride Festival would like to severely disassociate itself from certain remarks made during the Drag Superstars show on Thursday, August 16th, 2018,” it said.

“The approach of certain sensitive themes, presented in the form of so-called jokes, in no way reflects the policies of our organization and we apologize to anyone who has experienced discomfort due to these events. We will also take the necessary steps to ensure that such situations do not happen again.”

The Montréal Pride Festival would like to severely disassociate itself from certain remarks made during the Drag…

Posted by Fierté Montréal / Montréal Pride on Friday, August 17, 2018

The news was first reported by Into — a news site, owned by the gay dating app Grindr.

The criticism is par for the course for Bianca Del Rio, one of the most well-known winners of the long-running LOGO series.

Del Rio is also increasingly looking to break into film. Her first flick, Hurricane Bianca came out in 2016 to mixed reviews. The drag queen and her longtime collaborator Matt Kugelman debuted their next film “From Russia With Hate” in May and it is now on Netflix.

A rep for Del Rio did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.

Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women

Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate

Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers

Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
Getty Images
Sam Seder

Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb

Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro

In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
Twitter
Perry Fein

In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn

Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
Getty Images
Cheri Jacobus

Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black

Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon

Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
Getty Images

1 of 12

The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.

View In Gallery