Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman has opened up about his time on Drag Race in a brand new interview.
Back in 2020, the UnReal actor joined the Canadian edition of the Emmy Award-winning series as one of its regular panellists.
Bowyer-Chapman’s appearance on the hit series was met with intense backlash from so-called ‘fans’ of Drag Race, who inundated the actor with vile comments on social media due to his critiques for contestants such as Jimbo and Ilona Verley.
Due to the abuse and backlash from viewers, the actor deleted his Twitter account.
In an interview with Queerty, the 37-year-old actor said that letting go of his page “was not a challenging decision”.
“Social media has never been a big part of my life, truly. Instagram is just about my only social media platform at this point, and I share so little of my life. I never have,” he said.
“It’s not something I want to do: to let strangers into my most intimate details. Letting go of that was not a challenging decision.
“I go back to the lessons of the people who really shaped me and helped me to figure out who I want to be, Maya Angelou, being such a huge influence.
“One of her most famous quotes is, ‘They’re not talking about you. They’re not talking about me. People can talk about actors or celebrities or singers and come up with all these stories of who they are, but at the end of the day, they’re not talking about the truth of who you are. They don’t really know you.'”
This isn’t the first time that Bowyer-Chapman has opened up about receiving social media hate during his time on the popular franchise.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor said that the environment on set did not have his best interests at heart.
“I came into Canada’s Drag Race with a false sense of security, because I had built that trust with the producers of the American show,” Bowyer-Chapman explained.
“But this was a different set of producers. After playing a reality TV show producer on UnREAL for four seasons, I was aware of how dark and how shady that world can be.”
The star also discussed the “shocking” amount of racial slurs he received from white fans of the series.
“The amount of times that I was called a stupid n****r in my inbox from white, gay men was shocking — specifically because we were in the midst of a racial justice awakening,” he explained.
“As gay men, we unfortunately have grown accustomed to experiencing hate and vitriol and homophobia. I guess I had just never experienced it from my own community,.”
Even though Bowyer-Chapman is no longer a judge on Canada’s Drag Race, Bowyer-Chapman has shifted his talent to the Disney+ sitcom Doogie Kameāloha.
Described as a reimagining of the hit 80s show Doogie Howser, M.D., the series follows 16-year-old Lahela Kameāloha (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) as she navigates life as a young doctor, her family, and her intricate love life.
The American Horror Story star plays Dr. Charles Zeller, an openly gay doctor that serves as a mentor to the titular character throughout the series.
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