[Contains spoilers]
RuPaul didn’t mince his words when RPDR contestant The Vixen walked off the stage in the latest episode of the show.
The new instalment dropped last night and sees all the Se10 queens reunited for a group chat, ahead of next week’s final.
When RuPaul questioned whether The Vixen had instigated fights on the show – such as between Aquaria and Miz Cracker – the Chicagoan decided to walk off the set.
‘Y’all can have a good night’
Said The Vixen: ‘Okay, so I came here to thank my fans for the love and support that they gave me, for all the wonderful people who relate to me, understand me, appreciate me, and now that I’ve done that, y’all can have a good night.’
When Ru and some of the queens convince her to stay, The Vixen says: ‘I’m done, I’m done.’
Later, when Asia O’Hara tried to defend The Vixen (‘her leaving was her separating herself from a situation’), and said the group should have done more to help her, Ru slowly lost composure.
‘As a community, we do have a responsibility to each other,’ he said ‘But each of us, we’re all adults. At one point, you gotta say, there is nothing else I can do.
‘Each of us have had people in our lives who you realize “I can’t do anything for this person, unless they want to meet me halfway.”‘
Asia then said: ‘The Vixen seems like someone who is crying out for help’.
Ru continued: ‘I love the girl, I invited her on because I felt her voice needed to be heard. But at one point, and you’ve seen this with your friends back home, sometimes you’ve gotta let people go, whether it’s anger or whatever the issue is, because it’s not a two-way street. It’s one-sided and that’s where we are. It’s a one-sided conversation.’
‘She decided she’s gonna get the last word and walk out, so there, it’s done.’
‘It’s just ridiculous,’ Asia then interrupts, beginning to cry. ‘It’s ridiculous that our thought process about people is so self-centered that if it’s hard to help somebody, well, just let them struggle. We’re not just drag queens, we’re people. And now we’ve got one of our people outside.
‘Here we are filming during Pride season, and we let one of our sisters walk out the fucking room ‘cause nobody wants to fucking help her. And we’re the first people to say people aren’t treating us right.’
‘There was nothing anyone could do to stop her,’ RuPaul then said. ‘We saw you have a lovely discussion with her, where we actually got to see the sweetness in him, and I saw the fear, and I saw all of that. And I understood why that wall was put up, because I have that wall.
‘You have it, you have it, we all have it. And it’s coming from a hurt place. It is. But I can’t teach her that. I can teach her through my own example…’
‘Of course you can…’ replies Asia.
‘Can you explain to someone who cannot be spoken to?’ Ru then says.
Asia then said: ‘No, I don’t expect you to do that…’
‘I come from the same goddamn place she comes from!’
To this, RuPaul begins to shout, ‘But look at me, look at me, goddamnit! I come from the same goddamn place she comes from! And here I am! You see me walkin’ out? No, I’m not walking out. I fucking learned how to act around people and how to deal with shit. I’m not fucking walking out and saying, “Fuck all y’all!” That’s disrespectful. To each of you.’
He furthermore continues: ‘Let me tell you something: I have been discriminated against by white people for being black, by black people for being gay, by gay people for being too femme. Did I let that stop me from getting to this chair? No, I had to separate what I feel or what my impression of the situation is to put my focus on the goal. You can’t just make excuses for bad behavior or for inconsiderate behavior.
‘I invited each of you back here into my house, into my home, and if I’m invited to someone’s home, I’m not going to disrespect their home. I’m not going to just disrespect the invitation. You know, the world is hard. It’s hard to live on this planet. But we all have to learn how to deal with it, but you gotta ask for help first.
‘Listen, at the end of the day, we are all a drag family and as you can see here tonight, it doesn’t always come easy. I want you to take a look at this.’
At this point, the show cuts to a segment about the contestants dealing with judgement from religious family members.
The Vixen has had confrontations with Eureka and Aquaria, among other queens, on this season of the show.
‘I relate to that moment The Vixen walked out’
Fans on social media has diverse reactions to the scenes. Actress Anna Kendrick, for example, tweeted: ‘I could be completely projecting but I relate to that moment The Vixen walked out. When ur either gonna cry or scream… because someone called you “sweetie” one too many times (k that part is actually just specific to me) so you remove yourself instead. Ugh. I see you.’
Former RDR contestant Courtney Act, meanwhile, tweeted: ‘Yes @AsiaOharaLand! Thank you for your humanity and compassion!!! #dragrace #teamasia’
