Drag Race Italia star Nehellenia has released a statement following the recent Global All Stars episode.
Spoilers ahead
On 17 August, 12 queens across the Drag Race franchise made their way to the international main stage for the highly anticipated Global All Stars series.
The fierce line-up includes Alyssa Edwards (U.S.), Athena Sorgelikis (Belgium), Eva Le Queen (Philippines), Gala Varo (Mexico), Kitty Scott-Claus (UK), Kween Kong (Down Under), Miranda Lebrão (Brazil), Nehellenia (Italy), Pythia (Canada), Soa de Muse (France), Tessa Testicle (Germany) and Vanity Vain (Sweden).
While the first two episodes earned rave reviews, the last three releases have earned backlash from fans accusing the judges’ panel of favouritism.
In addition to the aforementioned criticism, many viewers have accused some of the cast of bullying and gaslighting Nehellenia, especially after this week’s episode.
During episode five, the Italian queen and Kitty got into a small workroom tiff after the former cried over the fabric she had to use for the design challenge.
Even though Nehellenia assured Kitty that her emotional response was due to her lack of experience with the material, Kitty took it as a personal attack.
Since its release, fans have rallied around the Italian talent by uploading supportive social media posts. However, some viewers have also used the opportunity to send hate to Kitty and other cast members.
In response, Nehellina shared a statement on her Instagram story asking fans not to send hate to her Global All Stars sisters.
“Here again, asking you to not send hate to anyone! It’s a TV show. Time has passed, and between us queens, everything is ok now,” she wrote.
“Many misunderstandings certainly derive from the fact that we have different cultures of origin. As an Italian and extremely sensitive person, I tend to experience emotions perhaps too intensely, and for this reason, I may have been misunderstood.”
Nehellenia went on to address Kitty calling her “cow,” adding that the latter did not say it as an offence.
“It is an interlayer of her language we are still playing on her “stupid cow.” [Kitty Scott-Claus] and I are very close now, and it hurts me to read some hateful comments towards her,” she continued.
“I understand taking a stand, supporting your favourite queens, but do it with respect. Kindness will save the world.”
Fans were quick to embrace Nehellenia’s statement, with one person on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing: “And the fact that people are sending these girls hate! A majority of the fandom is missing a few screws if they think this behavior is appropriate.”
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Another viewer tweeted: “The fact that drag race contestants have to do this is emblematic of a larger issue that people don’t know how to engage with a TV show and not be weird.”
A third person added: “I think people need to remember that it’s an edited TV show, queens are in unusual circumstances and under huge pressure. Like I don’t like how some are coming across on the show, but I can engage my brain to know that it’s not reflective of their real life characters.”
On next week’s Drag Race Global All Stars, the queens will play the Snatch Game of Love.
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