RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under contestant Art Simone has opened up about “not doing well” following her controversial return to the show on Episode 4, which resulted in her copping heat from the show’s fans and critics.
In last week’s ep, Art Simone was brought back into the competition, while fan favourite Anita Wigl’it was eliminated after losing her lipsync to Karen from Finance.
RuPaul gave little to no explanation behind the decision to bring Art back into the competition, while two other eliminated contestants, Jojo Zaho and Coco Jumbo (the only people of colour in the competition) have not been given the chance to return so far.
Naturally, this led fans to have some fiery opinions about Art, tagging her in all of their tweets and Insta posts about the decision.
“You’re all entitled to your opinions but please stop tagging me when you’re discussing the show. It wasn’t my decision – so please don’t take out your frustrations on me. I’m not doing well and drag was the one thing that used to make me feel better, now it makes me feel worse,” Art tweeted on Tuesday morning.
You’re all entitled to your opinions but please stop tagging me when you’re discussing the show. It wasn’t my decision – so please don’t take out your frustrations on me. I’m not doing well and drag was the one thing that used to make me feel better, now it makes me feel worse 😖
— Art Simone (@ArtSimone) May 24, 2021
The thing about the decision was that it was not at all Art’s to make, but RuPaul’s. He’s one of the producers on the show, his name is on the entire franchise, and he will do whatever he likes.
Despite the influx of negative opinions about the outcome of the show, Art Simone is an absolutely legendary queen, and she made a name for herself across the entirety of this country before the show even cast her on. In fact, it was rumoured that if Ru turned this whole thing down, Art would be the host.
Naturally, when you have a queen who has that much gravity and star power, you want to keep them on to make your show more entertaining. Yes she left fair and square, but she was also brought back for what she can offer, and you have to admit that she is incredibly entertaining to watch.
Bringing back art simone is such BS considering the other two eliminated queens–the only indigenous Queens–weren’t even given the chance. Wtf. #DragRaceDownUnder
— Vesper Lynx 🇺🇦| Thriller RomCom era (@TheLastLynX) May 22, 2021
Criticisms such as this one are fair, but they should not at all be aimed at Art, who had no part to play in the decision making. These questions should be asked of the production team — we should seek context from them, not the contestants.
We need to stop bullying and shaming our reality television celebrities for trying their best to go along with the rules of a show and entertain us. If we take issue with twists and producer decisions, then why are we tearing down our fierce queens who do nothing but bring us their all?
Art, we love you, and we’re absolutely rooting for you to make the most of your return. Keep on making us laugh, legend.
Now let’s all go watch Highway to Heel and support this icon.
