Drag Race star LaLa Ri has spilt the tea on his drag exit.
Back in October, the beloved talent surprised fans when he announced his departure from the drag industry on social media.
“This moment. Bad B**** Tip is hands-down my favourite song to perform! Stepping into this new chapter has been such a wild and thrilling ride,” LaLa wrote alongside a video of him performing the aforementioned track.
“I may be leaving drag behind, but trust me, The LaLa Ri Experience is still very much alive and serving! Can’t wait to keep evolving and giving y’all even more.”
Over the last few weeks, the All Stars 8 talent has refrained from opening up about his exit… until now.
On 14 November, LaLa finally gave insight into his decision during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“How can I put this? I’m removing myself from the drag character. I’m basically removing the essence,” he explained.
“I feel like drag places us in a box as artists and entertainers, and sometimes, in drag, you’re limited to what you can do artistically. I’d like to be considered a queer artist more than just a drag queen.”
LaLa went on to affirm that he still has plans to entertain and “do all the things” he did before, just not in his drag alter ego.
This moment. 🥹🤎 “Bad B**** Tip” is hands-down my favorite song to perform! Stepping into this new chapter has been such a wild and thrilling ride. I may be leaving the drag behind, but trust me, The LaLa Ri Experience is still very much alive and serving! pic.twitter.com/kDtIrRUjmc
— LaLa Ri (@TheeLaLaRi) October 19, 2024
When asked why he decided to leave the drag industry, the showstopping performer revealed that he never intended to have a full-fledged career doing the artform.
“I was pushed into doing drag. I never wanted to do drag for myself. I was already in the entertainment industry as a dancer and choreographer. I was doing music before drag,” he continued.
“Drag was just a different outlet for me to perform. It blew up, I got on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and it took off from there. It was like, I guess I’ve got to stick with this for a while. Even doing All Stars, I wanted to be there, obviously, because the opportunity and platform is amazing, but I didn’t want to be there doing drag.”
A few days after speaking with Entertainment Weekly, LaLa uploaded a video to his Instagram account to address the article and thank fans for their support.
View this post on Instagram
“Thank you for all of the support. Not just for the most recent events, thank you for that, but also thank you for the support and love throughout my entire drag era. I don’t want to say career because my career in the entertainment industry is not ending, but my drag era is,” he exclaimed.
“I owe a lot to my drag era for all the success. I thank RuPaul, thank World of Wonder, thank the fans from Drag Race that I obtained. Thanks to all of the promoters and the clubs and events I have worked in drag all over the world.”
Toward the end of his video, LaLa reminded fans that he is still the same LaLa Ri that we all fell in love with, adding that he’s not trying to create a masculine or macho persona.
“I’m still gay as f**k. I just want to be considered a queer artist, and I want to do a lot of things outside of drag,” he added.
We can’t wait to see what LaLa has planned for his new era.
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