RuPaul's Drag Race UK announced the list of celebrity guest judges for its upcoming fourth season. The official RuPaul’s Drag Race UK account took to Twitter announcing the lineup in a thread. “Category is… Celebrity guest realness! Here’s all the fabulous faces coming to #DragRaceUK.”
Category is… Celebrity guest realness! 😍 Here’s all the fabulous faces coming to #DragRaceUK 4⃣✨ pic.twitter.com/W5sWyDibRb
— RuPaul's Drag Race UK (@dragraceukbbc) August 31, 2022
The names of the upcoming guest judges include Dame Joanna Lumley, Mel B of the Spice Girls, FKA Twigs, Olly Alexander of Years & Years, Cathy Dennis, and Lorraine Pascale.
However, many are slamming the beloved series for including pop singer Boy George in the line-up, citing his problematic past.
Most know George as the frontman of Culture Club which put out hits such as “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.” The group gained popularity throughout the 70’s and 80’s with George performing in androgynous styles.
The eclectic singer came out as gay in his 1995 autobiography Take It Like a Man. However, despite the influence the band would make in the music world, Boy George would also go on to exhibit questionable behavior.
In 2009, Boy George was given a 15 month jail sentence for falsely imprisoning a male escort, handcuffing him to a wall and beating him with a metal chain. As reported by The Guardian, the singer was sentenced to 15 months in prision. However, he received an early release but was require to wear an ankle monitor and follow a curfew throughout the remainder of his jail sentence.
In more recent years, Boy George has also been accused of transphobia in 2017 and 2020. In a 2017 interview with The Gay Times, the singer called himself “old-fashioned” and says that he doesn’t understand labels like “sexually fluid” and “pansexual.”
“I’m kind of like, ‘How many flavors can there be?’” he asked. “I feel like there’s girls and boys and there’s people that like both. What else is there?”
Despite claims that he is not transphobic, a series of tweets in 2020 only fueled the flames about his stance on the trans and non-binary community.
““Leave your [pronouns] at the door!” the Culture Club singer wrote in a tweet. After a fan told George that his comments were “quite ridiculous,” he shot back: “You must refer to me as ‘Napoleon’ and that’s as ridiculous as it gets! I used the ladies’ toilet throughout the 80s!”
Leave your pronoun's at the door!
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) January 6, 2020
Needless to say, many Drag Race viewers has some strong opinions on the casting.
Deeply disappointed that @RuPaul is allowing someone who held a sex worker against their will and beat them with chains, as well as saying awful things about trans people, to be a judge on @dragraceukbbc 😔 👎
— Tom PositiveLad 🇺🇦 (@PositiveLad) August 31, 2022
Just like he sashayed into prison for 15 months for assaulting and unlawfully imprisoning a sex worker, you mean? https://t.co/Y5L3JNbwhx
— Rhys (@rhysrmann) August 31, 2022
Why is boy George still getting high profile gigs when he has been convicted and served time for assault and false imprisonment of a male escort. Why are people still paying him?!
— Tasha 🌈🔶 (@_TashiBear_) September 1, 2022
What are your thoughts on the topic? Let us know in the comments below!
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