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RuPaul posts video slapping Tyra after the Drag Race winner dishonors The Vivienne
RuPaul and Tyra Sanchez on RuPaul's Drag Race season 2.
RuPaul herself has now reacted to Drag Race season 2 winner Tyra sharing a series of disturbing posts related to The Vivienne's tragic death.
RuPaul has resurfaced an old video of herself fake-slapping Tyra (formerly known as Tyra Sanchez) from an acting scene filmed on RuPaul's Drag Race season 2 — a clear reaction to Tyra's several disturbing social media posts mocking The Vivienne's tragic death — all in response to a tweet shared by the Drag Race UK winner in 2020.
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Ever since The Vivienne's death was officially announced via a press release on Sunday, Drag Race season 2 winner Tyra began sharing various disturbing posts making light of The Vivienne's passing.
A series of derogatory X posts about the OG Drag Race UK champion stemmed from a tweet that The Vivienne shared over four years ago, on July 27, 2020. This caused an uproar within the drag community, with several drag artists responding to Tyra's X posts to call she and/or her comments "rotted" (DeJa Skye), "disgusting" (Kandy Muse), and "distasteful" (Tayce), among other things.
On Wednesday, RuPaul resurfaced an old clip of herself fake-slapping Tyra in an acting scene from the grand finale of Drag Race season 2, which aired in 2010. And while RuPaul didn't include a caption for the post (seen below), it absolutely suggests that this is Ru's reaction Tyra spending several days sharing disturbing X posts not only disrespecting The Vivienne, but also those who were mourning her death.
Tyra responded, "Right back at ya. Puppet," via an X post.
This subsequent post from Tyra included an illustration of in-drag RuPaul wearing the Confederate flag dress — her costume from To Wong Foo — and being manipulated by marionette strings. It's an image Tyra has used before to criticize the Drag Race host.
The overall LGBTQ+ community and hundreds of drag artists have been mourning The Vivienne's death — from Drag Race alumni from around the world, to legendary drag performers who haven't competed on the show, to former The Boulet Brothers' Dragula contestants.
On Tuesday, Jan. 7, an official statement from the 2025 edition of RuPaul's DragCon (seen above) taking place this upcoming weekend revealed that the conference will feature a special section to pay tribute to the OG champion of Drag Race UK.
Celebrities such as Ariana Grande, Russell Tovey, Ben Platt, Russell T Davies, and John Whaite also shared their reactions to the news of The Vivienne's death via social media. RuPaul herself even wrote an emotional post about it, which reads:
"With a broken heart, I join the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne — an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being."
This story is still developing...
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
