RuPaul’s Drag Race has made a charity donation in the awkward aftermath of season 12 contestant Sherry Pie’s disqualification.
The drag competition show was rocked by a catfishing scandal just days before its premiere this month.
Sherry Pie, whose real name is Joey Gugliemelli, allegedly tricking numerous young actors into sending degrading and explicit videos of themselves in fake audition scenes.
The performer later apologised for the behaviour. Producers then disqualified Sherry from the show just hours before her Drag Race debut.
Now they’ve made an announcement after Sherry won a cash tip of $5,000 in the third episode of season 12.
In a title card at the end of the episode, producers revealed they’d donated $5,000 to The Trevor Project after Sherry’s win.
“This episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race was filmed in 2019,” the on-screen message read.
“In light of recent developments, VH1 and World of Wonder have donated $5,000 to The Trevor Project.”
The Trevor Project is a non-profit counselling service working in suicide prevention for LGBTQ young people.
RuPaul’s Drag Race message missing from Australian screens
However, the ending message appears to be missing from the Australian version of the episode, streaming on Stan.
The Australian versions do feature a title card at the beginning of each episode addressing the scandal.
“In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie’s statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the message reads.
“Out of respect for the hard work of the other queens, VH1 will air the season as planned.”
The message then confirms Sherry won’t appear in the season 12 grand finale, filmed later in the year.
RuPaul’s Drag Race is available to stream in Australia on Stan each Saturday.
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