Jacqueline Arias in CultureTV

Sherry Pie is disqualified: What does this mean for ‘Drag Race’?

After being accused of sexual misconduct and catfishing, Sherry Pie has officially been disqualified from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 12.

“In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie’s statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race. Out of respect for the hard work of the other queens, VH1 will air the season as planned. Sherry will not appear in the grand finale scheduled to be filmed later this spring,” said a spokesperson from VH1 and World of Wonder in a statement.

Five gay men recently came forward accusing Sherry Pie of using the alias “Allison Mossey” to catfish them and ask for lewd videos. On Mar. 6, Sherry admitted to this in an apology posted on her Facebook page.”I want to start by saying how sorry I am that I caused such trauma and pain and how horribly embarrassed and disgusted I am with myself. I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel,” wrote Sherry. “Until being on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ I never really understood how much my mental health and taking care of things meant. I learned on that show how important ‘loving yourself’ is and I don’t think I have ever loved myself. I have been seeking help and receiving treatment since coming back to NYC.”

Sherry ended her statement by apologizing to the other season 12 queens, the production company and the network. Read the full post below.

What does her disqualification mean for the show? Since all the episodes except the finale have been pre-filmed, Sherry can’t be removed from the show (unless she will be eliminated early in the competition). The only possible explanation is that Sherry is one of the four finalists, which is a rumor going around, and she lost her chance to win the crown.

Sherry is the second contestant to be disqualified from the show, the first being Willam in season four. Unlike Sherry, Willam wasn’t disqualified for sexual misconduct and she was in her season’s finale.

The second episode of “Drag Race” S12 just premiered yesterday, so we’ll just wait and see how the series will unfold.

***

Originally posted on Mar. 6, 2020

We interrupt everyone’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 12 binge-watching with news of alleged sexual misconduct involving two contestants: Sherry Pie and Brita.

Drag queen Sherry Pie, who will appear in the second episode, has been accused of preying on gay men under the alias “Allison Mossey.” It started when a man, Sherry’s former classmate in theater school, shared his experience talking to Mossey via email. He allegedly contacted Mossey, who was believed to be affiliated with Playwrights Horizons, about a role in a play and she asked him to email sexual videos as part of his audition.

When the accuser felt like his supposed rehearsal wasn’t going anywhere, he contacted Playwrights Horizons to follow up and found out that Mossey isn’t an employee. The friend who gave him Mossey’s email address also alleged that they knew about her through Sherry, which raised suspicions that the drag queen was behind all this. (You can read the full story here.)

More accusations popped up on Twitter under the hashtag #AllisonMossey and #sherrypieisoverparty. “Drag Race” alums like Detox, Bianca Del Rio, Monét X Change, Aquaria and Shea Coulee have also reacted to the news.

Following these accusations, fans brought up Brita’s alleged sexual assault. According to a screenshot of a story that’s going around on Twitter, the accuser is one of Brita’s drag children. They met the drag queen in 2015 during Mardi Gras night at Brooklyn College. She offered to teach them how to do makeup, even taking them to her place to put them in drag for the first time.

Later that night, Brita allegedly asked them to stay over. When the accuser woke up in the middle of the night, Brita was giving them nonconsensual oral sex.

The 12th season of “Drag Race” premiered just last week, Feb. 28, and fans are calling for producers to cut out Sherry and Brita’s scenes. This is especially difficult since the episodes, except for the finale, were already filmed and there are rumors that Sherry is one of the finalists. (Emphasis on rumor. If it’s true, then oops, sorry for the spoiler.)

This is the first time that “Drag Race” queens have been accused of sexual misconduct and assault before a premiere is done. The latest season has two premieres, the second one airing on VH1 today, Mar. 6. As of writing, Sherry, Brita and “Drag Race” producers haven’t released statements addressing the allegations.

Photo courtesy of Sherry Pie’s Instagram account

Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Viber