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RuPaul’s Drag Race star Pearl has apologized after being accused of doing blackface. On Thursday, the drag performer shared an image of herself as a character she says was “inspired by Caucasian people,” but many believed the makeup she chose was too dark and emulated Black skin tones.
“I’d like to address the drag character I posted this morning,” Pearl wrote on Instagram. “It was not my intention to do blackface. I thought the concept of the character would be clear to anyone who saw it, which was ignorant on my part, for which I am sorry.”
“Just to be clear, every aspect of the character was inspired by Caucasian people, there was no Black influence going on in my mind during the time of conception,” she added.
In the original post, Pearl shared a photo of herself wearing ultra-tan makeup, exaggeratedly large pink lips, and a beehive hairdo. In a previous Instagram Story, Pearl claimed that the character was meant to be a “platinum blonde/blue eyes” woman with a “2000s Britney-esque tan.”
Pearl deleted the post soon after she began receiving criticism, writing that the characters she’s played “aren’t aging well.” In her Instagram post, she said she now understood that the origins of the character itself “have been problematic” and that by parodying them, she was “contributing to the issue in its own way, something I hadn’t thought of and don’t want to contribute to.”
“I’m going to look at this as an opportunity to grow from the experience and expand myself creatively,” she added. Pearl has dressed up as this character in the past but has generally used lighter makeup.
Her comments were filled with fans commending the performer for coming clean and acknowledging the misstep, while others criticized her for not considering the impact of the character in the first place.
“I know u don’t mean harm but also u were the color of ur coffee and I’ve never seen a fake tan pumped girl with such a cool and natural undertone across the body,” Drag Race Season 9 winner Aquaria commented. “I think people know u like to explore that character but I think it’s usually a bit easier for others to understand if it’s a less realistic shade for someone’s natural skin (like something a bit more orange) and I think it’s also fair to assume hopefully u saw that before posting as well.”
“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,” tweeted Drag Race queen The Vixen, who’s Black.
