RuPaul responds to backlash over Tyra Sanchez ‘suicide’ tweets
RuPaul and Michelle Visage have responded to the Drag Race fan backlash against season two winner Tyra Sanchez, after the 27-year-old told a fan to “kill yourself” on Twitter earlier this month.
Even after coming under fire, the star appeared to stand by her remarks; adding in a tweet that has since been deleted: “I have no sympathy for people that commit suicide. They’re cowards. They give up & give in. Stop tweeting me about it.
“If you want to kill yourself, go ahead it’s your life. Am I gonna be sympathetic for you & give pity? I think not. Too busy living MY life.”
A petition to revoke Sanchez’s crown collected 2,000 signatures, but RuPaul has suggested that she was only joking – but that Twitter was not the right forum for her to be understood correctly.
Speaking on the latest instalment of podcast What’s The Tee, the icon said: “I think that what happened was there is a certain level of reverence and camp in what sometimes is said out loud which is not meant for mixed company.
“Twitter is not the place for that. People don’t get nuance on Twitter, you can’t do irony on Twitter. People won’t get it.”
Visage added that she messaged Sanchez herself to advise her against making gags that depend on the clarity of inflection and sarcasm.
She explained: “She said it like you would with your friends. Like saying, ‘Ru, go play in traffic’. You’ve said that to me a million times: ‘Go play in traffic’. It’s funny and we laugh, but if you say it on Twitter, it doesn’t read that way. That’s not the forum.”
Ru wisely added: “There’s a certain amount of diplomacy and protocol and style that you have to learn when you’re dealing with a bigger audience.”
As for Tyra, she addressed the furore once again last night; posting a short 16-second video in which she said: “Let’s stop blaming bullies and internet trolls[…] let’s take some personal accountability for our actions.”
I’ve blocked the majority of internet trolls, let’s talk. Don’t be rude! Let’s just be honest (Let’s just be real) pic.twitter.com/D54uElYXMd
— Tyra Sanchez (@iTyra) August 29, 2015
What do you make of Tyra’s latest comments?