As the supreme flipper, kicker and splitter of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14, viewers waited with bated breath to witness Jasmine Kennedie smash this week’s lip-sync LaLaPaRuza. Although she annihilated each of her smackdowns with her aforementioned flips, kicks and splits, Jasmine ultimately became the seventh contestant to sashay away from the series – resulting in fans calling out production for, as Alyssa Edwards puts it, “Rigga Morris!”
It wasn’t just Jasmine’s lip-syncs that left us gagged this season. From her feuds with Maddy Morphosis and Daya Betty to her future Primetime Emmy Award-winning performance in The Daytona Wind, the 22-year-old is personally responsible for so much of season 14’s drama and comedy that fans are already campaigning for Jasmine to return for All Stars.
Not only that, Jasmine also provided viewers with one of the most tender moments in herstory when she came out as trans to her sisters in Untucked; making season 14 the first in RuPaul’s ever-growing franchise to host five openly transgender contestants. “I think it is a very meaningful and powerful moment in reality TV,” she says. “Never has there been a reality TV show this popular highlighting five trans women and their stories at the same time.”
Here, Jasmine tells GAY TIMES why she ‘broke down’ after her exit, the remarks she “took personally” from best frenemy Daya Betty and how publicly coming out as trans has impacted queer viewers around the world.
Jasmine, you crushed all three lip-sync smackdowns. How does it feel to have done such a fantastic job and still have to sashay away?
Thank you so much! Even though I went home on a lip-sync challenge, I feel like my track record was also brought into account, so it’s an understandable outcome. I think I took each lip-sync in stride. Of course, there are small things I’d change here and there, but I am very proud of all that I showcased.
There are a lot of fans who thought, based on the lip-syncs, you deserved to stay. What does it mean to you to see all that support online?
It’s a great feeling to hear that all the fans are so supportive and thought I should have stayed. I also feel I should’ve won at least one of those lip-syncs, but regardless, I have no regrets about anything I did. I have gotten so many kind messages from fans and they all have been really receptive to how I handled myself.
How long did it take you to come to terms with your elimination?
Coming home from production, I thought I was okay with everything I did. Then my boyfriend sat me down and asked if I was okay and I just started breaking down – I just unraveled and had a severe anxiety attack. Everything you’re insecure about that you did on the show just hits you like a ton of bricks once you get home. After a week of basically sleeping all day, only moving to get the Uber Eats or go to the bathroom, my boyfriend was the one who helped me get out of my funk and made sure I was getting back to a better place. After that initial release of emotions, I’d say it did not have a hold on me anymore. Over time I began to realise all the positives of the experience outweighed me not winning a challenge.
Your chocolate bar didn’t contain the golden ticket. So far, the candy bar twist has been met with polarised reactions from viewers. How do you feel about this new format?
As a competitor, the golden ticket has a great benefit to us. It’s that last hope that fate is on your side in the competition. It’s something fresh also and nods to the immunity that Drag Race used to have in earlier seasons.
The lip-sync smackdowns were a result of the queens’ underwhelming performances in the Snatch Game. Did it really go that badly? Did you ever anticipate that all of the queens, bar DeJa Skye, would be in the bottom when you were actually doing the challenge?
I don’t think it was horrible, but it definitely wasn’t amazing! I think everyone who wasn’t DeJa was just so laser focused on answering the question versus actual conversations between characters. Personally, I thought Lady Camden’s Shakespeare was good!
You came out as trans during a beautiful conversation with the cast in Untucked. How did coming out to your sisters impact the rest of your time on Drag Race?
I think it brought us a whole lot closer, and it showed a side to the cast I don’t think they really expected from me, which was vulnerability. Up until that point I was still trying to fit in with the girls and trying to find my footing. But after that, I feel like it solidified our bonds even more. It also gave me the capability to be myself without feeling I have to mask any part of myself.
Drag Race season 14 makes herstory with the most openly out trans contestants in yourself, Kornbread Jeté, Kerri Colby, Bosco and Willow Pill. What does this personally mean to you?
I think it is a very meaningful and powerful moment in reality TV. Never has there been a reality TV show this popular highlighting five trans women and their stories at the same time. With everything happening in Texas and Florida, and now Oklahoma joining the crazy train of making it child abuse in certain States to support your child’s transition, or to not say the word “gay”, I think what Drag Race is doing is shedding a light on the human emotion side of transition rather than the preconceived views of what being trans is.
How has being on RuPaul’s Drag Race allowed you to reach fans, particularly trans/non-binary youth, all around the world?
It is so meaningful and humbling to think my coming out would help so many people with their gender identity journey. It is insane to me with all the messages I’ve received from Thailand, Brazil, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, the UK – literally the whole world! It is such a touching and heartfelt thing because it shows that there are so many other people constantly dealing with the same issues you are.
You and Daya Betty often came into conflict throughout the season due to your little/big sister dynamic. How is your relationship now?
We are friendly and have mutual respect for each other. There are some things she said on the show I wasn’t the most fond of, mainly because she was commenting on me as a person and my character rather than my drag at some points, which I took personally. I think we are in a really good place, but there are still some things that need to be addressed – at least from my end, but we will save that for the reunion!
Jasmine, you have been one of the most entertaining queens this season, from your confessionals to the lip-sync smackdowns, and of course, The Daytona Wind. What has been your personal highlight of the whole experience?
I definitely would have to say The Daytona Wind. That whole episode, including the Untucked, had so many amazing things happening for me. From my acting to my runway, I felt very confident in what I presented that day. So many one-liners came out of that day from the whole cast too!
What’s next for Jasmine Kennedie?
So much more! I’d love to do a WOW Presents Plus show with the one and only Alyssa Edwards herself, as well as tours! I wanna tour the world with my season 14 sisters as well as other queens from the franchise. I’d also love to further my own brand itself and start an active wear/casual clothing line that is gender neutral but geared towards the queer community. Much to come!
Catch RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 every Saturday on the streamer of all things drag, WOW Presents Plus. Subscribe via http://uk.wowpresentsplus.com/
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