‘Canada’s Drag Race’ denounces ‘harassment and hate’ from fans following Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman Twitter deletion
Bowyer-Chapman deleted his Twitter account over the weekend amid widespread criticism of his judging style.
By Will Stroude
Canada’s Drag Race has issued a statement denouncing the behaviour of a minority of fans after judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman deactivated his Twitter account.
Bowyer-Chapman, who has come in for criticism over his tough judging style during the course of the series, deleted his Twitter account over the weekend, prompting former Drag Race UK contestant Crystal to tweet that fans had effectively “bullied” him off the platform.
Now, producers of Canada’s inagurual edition of Drag Race have issued a statement reminding fans there “is no place for hate” within the Drag Race community.
“The popularity of Canada’s Drag Race speaks volumes to the immense talent of our queens and phenomenal judges, and we couldn’t be more proud of them”, said Crave, the company that produces Canad’s Drag Race, in a statement to Now Toronto.
“Available in more than 160 countries around the world, Canada’s Drag Race has an international fan base, and it’s unfortunate that some of those fans have let their passion cross the boundary into harassment by posting hateful comments about our queens and judges online,” the statement reads.
“There is no place for hate in the Canada’s Drag Race community, or anywhere.
“Our show encourages inclusivity and acceptance of all people, and we hope that viewers who haven’t shared in that spirit, will respect that message.”
Prior to the deletion of Bowyer-Chapman’s account, Canada’s Drag Race’s latest eliminee Lemon defended the actor’s judging style in an interview with Attitude.
“What everyone is forgetting is that the judging goes on for hours, and so the judges obviously say supportive, very kind things to us as well, but at the end of the day it’s a competition and it’s TV”, Lemon said.
“If they were like ‘you guys are all so pretty’, it’d be a terrible show, don’t ya think?”
The 24-year-old performer added: “So no, I never felt that any of the judges were rude or unqualified. They were chose for a reason and they’re all really cool people.
“We need to keep in mind that they’re humans, too.”
Canada’s Drag Race is available to watch on the BBC iPlayer.