Drag Race: Elliott With 2 Ts Accused Of Racist Microaggression

RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Elliott with Two Ts is receiving backlash for a possible racial microaggression in a recent interview. The Las Vegas drag queen recently appeared in a video with RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars contestant Alexis Mateo on YouTube. The video recently resurfaced on Twitter, and Elliott has come under fire. The clip shows the professional ballet dancer describing co-star Symone’s drag in a way that displeased fans of the show.

Elliot with Two Ts is currently competing on Drag Race season 13 along with other acclaimed drag performers. The queen fell victim to a shocking premiere twist that forced the queens to lip sync for their lives immediately after arriving on the show. A second twist consisted of the losing queens voting off one of their own. Elliott received the short end of the stick yet again. However, an unprecedented third twist saved the twice-eliminated queen from a premature demise and allowed her to stay in the competition.

The microaggression in question appeared while Elliott With 2 Ts was seemingly trying to give her RuPaul’s Drag Race co-star Symone a compliment. “She is, in a word, Black Girl Magic,” stated the drag performer. “That is what she brought. She felt that should be her message”. The queen got into hot water with the choice of words that followed: “But she did it so elegantly. It wasn’t aggressive, it was done with taste”. Words like “aggressive” are often used to discriminate describe people of color who are expressing themselves. Comments like Elliott’s insinuate that people of color must play down who they are in order to appeal to white people’s levels of comfortability. Chicago-based drag performer Khloe Couleé reacted to the comment on Twitter: “I know one of you season 13 girls needs to check your friend because this is the second time I’ve heard @theelliottqueen say some wild sh*t” tweeted the drag queen.

In response, Drag Race star Kandy Muse tweeted out the following to Khloé: “I tried, multiple times on set.” Elliot With 2 Ts released a statement in response to the backlash: “My intentions were never to refer to anyone’s message as being aggressive. The word aggressive was never meant to reflect her personality or her message, and admittedly I mis-used the term black girl magic to describe her aesthetic, and have been made aware that this term isn’t a blanket statement for the appreciation of blackness but is inherently social in nature”. Fan response to the apology was mixed. Certain fans doubled-down on their criticism with concerns that the apology was insincere, while others forgave Elliott and boiled the situation down to a learning experience.

Elliott with 2 Ts and Symone both currently remain in the RuPaul’s Drag Race competition. While Elliot lost the premiere lip sync, she has since gotten her footing by receiving both a high and safe placement. In turn, Symone has thus far slayed the competition by winning the first two maxi challenges of the season. The fan-favorite is certainly the frontrunner.

RuPaul’s Drag Race airs Fridays at 8pm EST on VH1.

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