‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under’: Queens Confronted Scarlet Adams About Doing Blackface, But It Was Edited Out
RuPaul’s Drag Race expanded to Australia and New Zealand in 2021 with RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. The show was filmed in the aftermath of the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, as people around the world became more aware of the violent racism that Black people face. During that time, Australian drag queen Scarlet Adams was called out on social media for her performances in the past, which included blackface as well as offensive performances mocking Aboriginal and Asian people.
Adams confessed to her behavior on the first season of Drag Race Down Under, prompting a discussion among the queens and an on-stage confrontation with RuPaul himself. But what the audience saw was only a fraction of what was discussed on camera.
Scarlet Adams was called out for doing blackface before appearing on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under’
When Scarlet Adams was announced as one of the competitors on the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, Perth-based Aboriginal drag queen Felicia Foxx shared several photos of Scarlet on social media wearing many offensive looks, including a Native American headdress and a burqa, as well as photos of her performing in blackface.
Her fellow queens asked her about it in the werkroom
On the fifth episode of the show, the queens were getting ready to walk out on the main stage when they began discussing things that they’d done in drag that they regret. Scarlet admitted that she’d done racist performances in the past, which included blackface.
“I’m disgusted at myself that I did those things,” she said of her previous behavior.
Fellow Aussie queen Etcetera Etcetera offered their critique of the situation. “I’ve never looked at something like blackface and even thought that that could be, like, an honest mistake.”
Art Simone, meanwhile, offered her own two cents. “You said that you were trying to do it for humor. It’s strange to appropriate someone’s culture to make a joke of it.”
“I didn’t know any better, and not that that’s an excuse, but it’s hard to unlearn things that are ingrained into you as a child,” Scarlet admitted.
Etcetera Etcetera didn’t make any excuses for Scarlet
When competitor Maxi Shield spoke about witnessing racist conversations in Central Queensland, Australia, Etcetera fired back saying there was a difference between the two.
“I think casual racism in conversation is very different to painting your face in blackface and performing a number for money,” Etcetera said. “A lot of drag scenes are extremely racist. I see drag queens saying, ‘It was just a joke; you need to get over it.’ But it’s like, while people of color and trans people are still facing violence every single day from the systematic oppression that we live in isn’t a joke to me.”
Finally, RuPaul confronted Scarlet himself during the judges’ critiques. Scarlet again offered her apologies and recognized the harm that she’d caused, especially given the context of hundreds of years of systemic racism. Unlike when RuPaul cursed out UK queen Joe Black for wearing H&M on the runway, the host let off Scarlet with a warning and a hope for her to do better moving forward.
In August 2022, Etcetera Etcetera announced that they were pulling out of the planned Drag Race Down Under tour in Australia and New Zealand as a result of Scarlet Adams’ involvement and the company behind the tour “continuing to put queer communities in harm’s way.”
The ‘Untucked’ conversation was edited out
While every other episode of Drag Race Down Under has included an Untucked segment where the queens discuss what happened backstage while the judges deliberate, this episode was notably missing an Untucked.
In a 2022 interview on Exposed, New Zealand queen Elektra Shock hinted that there was a reason why. “Did you not notice the lack of Untucked? There was just no Untucked that episode?” she said, sipping her drink.
She went on to divulge just what happened backstage, and what ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor.
“There was so much said and there were so many backs and forths and so much of it didn’t make the final edit, which I think is a shame because she probably should’ve been held more accountable in the eyes of the viewer, and I think the way you watch Drag Race Down Under seems to condone the behavior. It sort of seems like RuPaul sort of says, ‘Yeah, it’s alright, I’ve seen it and that’s the thing and I am the person of color in the room so let’s carry on,” Elektra said. “And although RuPaul is a person of color in the room and was a person of color in the room, there are hundreds of thousands of people of color outside of this room watching this show who had to deal with reliving that experience and viewing those images and sort of having to deal with that trauma. And I will always stand with those people.”
Elektra Shock and Kita Mean wanted to have a discussion about it
Elektra revealed that she and fellow Kiwi queen Kita Mean were the only ones who wanted to talk about what just happened after RuPaul confronted Scarlet on the main stage.
“Me and Kita wanted to talk about it, and no one else did,” she said plainly. “We wanted to talk about it. Why not? Let’s talk about it. And I think that has a lot to do with [the fact that] there was also no people of color in the room at the time, as well. Everyone was very sort of awkward.”
“I didn’t really care if there were people of color in the room, because the white people are the ones that need to sort their s*** out and have these hard conversations with each other and hold each other accountable,” she continued. “Me and Kita were very keen to talk. A lot of queens weren’t keen to talk. I think they were all worried they were going to be painted with the same brush, whether they were worried about things that they’d done that were going to come [out], I don’t know.”
Karen From Finance also had a history of racism
Scarlet Adams wasn’t the only queen who had a history of racist behavior before appearing on Drag Race Down Under. Art Simone, for example, owned up to cultural appropriation from her past on Twitter. “For years Australian drag has ridden the line between cultural appropriation and appreciation,” Simone said. “I learnt that my appreciation could be seen as appropriation, I learnt and grew and I stopped wearing that costume.”
Fellow finalist Karen From Finance, meanwhile had an extensive golliwog doll collection and even had one tattooed.
In season 2 of Drag Race Down Under, competitor Hannah Conda — who herself was called out at the same time Scarlet was in 2021 — spoke about her realization of her past offensive behavior and her journey to atonement.
