Photo: Getty Images
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Pearl has issued an apology after being accused of wearing blackface.
On Thursday (August 10), Pearl took to Instagram to share now-deleted photos of her wearing overly-dark makeup, exaggerated pink lips, and platinum blonde hair.
The Drag Race star said she was depicting a character solely "inspired by Caucasian people" with "platinum blonde/blue eyes" and a "2000s Britney-esque tan." However, many social media users criticized Pearl for wearing makeup that emulated Black skin tones.
After wiping the photos from her Instagram, Pearl addressed the blackface accusations in a lengthy post.
“I’d like to address the drag character I posted this morning,” Pearl wrote on Instagram. “It was not my intention to do blackface. I thought the concept of the character would be clear to anyone who saw it, which was ignorant on my part, for which I am sorry.”
“Just to be clear, every aspect of the character was inspired by Caucasian people, there was no Black influence going on in my mind during the time of conception,” she continued. “I’m going to look at this as an opportunity to grow from the experience and expand myself creatively."
Drag Race queen The Vixen, who’s Black, seemingly called out on Twitter Pearl for her now-deleted photos.
“White people paint their skin the shade of people who have to defend their skin shade and [they’re] surprised they have to defend their choice,” she tweeted.
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