By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
The queen was accused of and apologized for creating a fake persona to get young actors to send her photos and videos.
UPDATE: With the allegations against RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 contestant Sherry Pie having gone viral, VH1 and World of Wonder have announced that the queen has been disqualified from the show. The New York City performer allegedly corresponded with five up and coming actors, pretending to be a casting director, and convinced them to send photos as well as videos, sometimes sexual in nature, for fake castings. Pie issued a Facebook apology after Buzzfeed reported on the allegations.
"In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie's statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from RuPaul's Drag Race," a spokesperson for VH1 and World of Wonder said in a statement. "Out of respect for the hard work of the other queens, VH1 will air the season as planned. Sherry will not appear in the grand finale scheduled to be filmed later this spring."
\u201cJUST IN: Sherry Pie has been disqualified from @RuPaulsDragRace after my story in BuzzFeed News containing allegations from five men of catfishing https://t.co/FZap9iuWu9\u201d— David Mack (@David Mack) 1583527118
This is the second disqualification in Drag Race herstory. The first was Willam Belli in season four.
ORIGINAL: Tonight, RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 will kick off part two of its premiere. Of the six queens to be introduced is New York City's Sherry Pie, who this week came under fire as multiple men alleged she catfished them in order to get them to send videos, some of which were sexualized, in order to get booked for fake acting gigs.
Starting with a viral Facebook post that spread to Reddit as well as Twitter and has now been investigated by media, five men have come forward to say that they worked with a casting director named Allison Mossie, who supposedly worked with Playwrights Horizons in New York City. According to a Buzzfeed report, these men were classmates of Pie, whose name out of drag is Joey Gugliemelli, at SUNY Cortland in New York. Typically through Gugliemelli, they were put in touch with Mossie, via an email to audition for up and coming projects.
One of the recurring projects was one called Bulk. In the play, which promised one student $900 per week and housing in New York City, the main character is obsessed with growing bigger so he takes steroids. To audition, actors were encouraged to send in videos where they pretended to take steroids, smell their armpits, and more.
With one victim, Gugliemelli was referred to as an "auxiliary casting agent," and later encouraged the actor to take off his shirt, and strip to his underwear in a video taping he presided over. Then he suggested the actor masturbate in the bathroom in order to feel more masculine, which the actor then did. The actor also alleged Gugliemelli suggested that he masturbate on camera for Mossie, and he followed through with the request.
In each case, exchanges eventually stopped with the actors in question.
Representatives from Playwrights Horizon said that the company have never employed an Allison Mossie.
After the Buzzfeed report was published, Pie took to Facebook to respond to it. She reportedly ignored multiple requests for comment prior to the story going live.
"This is Joey, I want to start by saying how sorry I am that I caused such trauma and pain and how horribly embarrassed and disgusted I am with myself," she wrote to Facebook. "I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel."
\u201cRight after we published my story. Sherry Pie released a statement on Facebook: https://t.co/FZap9iuWu9\u201d— David Mack (@David Mack) 1583468030
She continued: "I have been seeking help and receiving treatment since coming back to NYC [from RuPaul's Drag Race taping.] I truly apologize to everyone I have hurt with my actions."
"All I can do is change the behavior and that starts with me and doing that wrote," she wrote in closing.
Sherry Pie will make her debut on RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 tonight.
RELATED | Can't Wait? 'Drag Race' Dropped 15 Minutes of This Week's Episode
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
