All posts tagged: Drag

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18 faces backlash over alleged AI use

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18 faces backlash over alleged AI use

Published by skeptic

RuPaul’s Drag Race fans are calling out the show over alleged use of AI-generated artwork. SEE ALSO: Put Dr. Kelson from ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ The artwork appears in Season 18, episode 14, when host RuPaul Charles “paints” portraits of contestants Juicy Love Dion, Myki Meeks, Darlene Mitchell, and Nini Coco. Viewers were quick to point out that the portraits fell into the uncanny valley of AI slop, from the faint yellow filter on some images to some strange incongruities, like Juicy Love Dion’s boa having three separate ends. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. On social media, fans and even former contestants like Season 16’s Plasma expressed frustration over the show’s possible use of AI. After all, RuPaul’s Drag Race is a celebration of the art form of drag. Allegedly using AI feels like a betrayal of the very authenticity the series hopes to promote. Mashable Top Stories …

Drag Race: Philippines star Misua dies aged 27, ahead of filming new series

Drag Race: Philippines star Misua dies aged 27, ahead of filming new series

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Drag Race: Philippines star Misua has died aged 27. Jason Elvie Ty, best known by the stage name Misua, died “in her sleep” on Thursday (2 April) in the Philippines. A cause of death has not been announced. A much-loved presence in the Filipino drag community, Misua had been cast on the forthcoming season of Drag Race: Philippines, which had been due to start filming. Misua’s death was announced by World of Wonder, the production company behind the series, in a statement that read: “We are heartbroken to share that Misua, a talented Queen set to appear on season four of Drag Race Philippines, passed away in her sleep the morning of April 2. “She brought light, artistry, and joy to those around her, and she will be deeply missed.” Production on the fourth season has been paused in order to …

Sadiq Khan wants to drag Britain back into the EU without asking you | Politics | News

Sadiq Khan wants to drag Britain back into the EU without asking you | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Let’s be clear what’s just happened. Sadiq Khan has said Britain rejoining the EU is “inevitable”. Not something to debate. Not something to vote on. Inevitable. Think about that. Because when a politician tells you something is inevitable, what they’re really saying is: Your opinion doesn’t matter. We already had a vote on this. The biggest democratic exercise in British history, 17.4 million people voted to leave. And now, bit by bit, you see the same political class trying to edge us back in. First it’s the customs union. Then the single market. Then “alignment”. Then suddenly we’re back where we started. No straight question. No honest argument. Just a slow reversal. And now the Mayor of London is openly saying it out loud. That we’re going back. Whether you like it or not. And it gets worse. He’s even suggested this could happen without another referendum. Let that sink in. The same people who talk endlessly about democracy, inclusion, and “having your voice heard” are now quite comfortable bypassing the public entirely. Because they …

Katya Interview: RuPaul’s Drag Race, Trixie Mattel And Podcast Who’s The A**hole

Katya Interview: RuPaul’s Drag Race, Trixie Mattel And Podcast Who’s The A**hole

Published by Sam Flores

“You’ll have to excuse me, I’m cleaning a men’s wig.” This feels as fitting a way as any to begin a conversation with Katya Zamolodchikova (your dad just calls her Katya), the drag world’s queen of all things chaotic. Katya first captured the world’s attention 10 years ago, as one of the break-out stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race’s seventh season, quickly becoming a popular fan-favourite and returning a year later for the second All Stars season (still considered by many to be the pinnacle of the franchise) a year after being crowned her season’s Miss Congeniality. A decade on, she’s still considered one of the show’s most popular queens, particularly among non-winners – a title she’s more than happy to retain. “I’m not a winner – and I mean that not in a pejorative, insult-y way,” she tells HuffPost UK. “I’m not competitive. I found that out the first day I was on the show.” Katya recalls: “I guess before I went to season seven, I was kind of like, ‘I could win’. And then …

The Cocreators of RuPaul’s Drag Race Bring a Shocking Killing to HBO

The Cocreators of RuPaul’s Drag Race Bring a Shocking Killing to HBO

Published by Sam Flores

When it debuted in the fall of 2011, Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story blurred the line between fiction and reality with its allusions to real-life cases such as mass nurse murderer Richard Speck, the Black Dahlia case, and the slayings at Amityville manor. But just a year before the series dropped, there was a different high-profile homicide less than two hours from Murphy’s hometown of Indianapolis involving a huge brick mansion and an ominous rubber suit—eerie similarities to the first season of the FX series. Now that case is the subject of a new HBO docuseries helmed by two other iconic filmmakers: Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the directors/producers behind RuPaul’s Drag Race, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, and Party Monster, 2003’s dramatic adaptation of the Michael Alig manslaughter case. The crime at the heart of Murder in Glitterball City, which premieres on February 19, shares some themes with Party Monster; both involve drugs, gay men, and homicide. And with both projects, Barbato tells Vanity Fair, their goal as filmmakers wasn’t to further sensationalize an …

Partial Government Shutdown Over DHS Oversight Seems Poised to Drag On

Partial Government Shutdown Over DHS Oversight Seems Poised to Drag On

Published by Sam Flores

Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration operations are conducted after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers in Minneapolis last month. Unlike the record 43-day shutdown last fall, the closures are narrowly confined, affecting only agencies under the DHS umbrella, including the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But the work of ICE and CBP will mostly continue unabated, thanks to billions in funding from Trump’s 2025 tax and spending cut law. Trump pays tribute to Jackson by posting photos of himself with the civil rights icon The president shared a dozen photos on social media of himself with the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson that were primarily from the 1980s and 1990s. Trump did not share any text with his posts but the photos showed him and Jackson shaking hands at various events, chatting and pointing at things. Vance is in New York for a fundraiser The vice president, who is also serving as the finance …

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine review – drag fabulousness in war-torn Beirut | Fiction

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine review – drag fabulousness in war-torn Beirut | Fiction

Published by Sam Flores

Meet Raja, the narrator of Rabih Alameddine’s new novel. A 63-year-old gay philosophy teacher and drag entertainer, he is a stickler for rules and boundaries, living in a tiny Beirut flat with his octogenarian mother, the nosy and unfettered Zalfa. Invited to a writing residency in the US, Raja will use the occasion to relate his life – that is, if you don’t mind him taking the scenic route. “A tale has many tails, and many heads, particularly if it’s true,” Raja tells us. “Like life, it is a river with many branches, rivulets, creeks and distributaries.” Winner of the 2025 US National Book Award for fiction, Alameddine’s seventh novel opens and closes in 2023, but the bulk of its action takes place earlier: encompassing the lead-up to and aftermath of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the Covid pandemic, Lebanon’s 2019 banking crisis, and the Beirut port explosion in 2020. If this timeline makes the book sound like a punishing tour of Lebanese history, I promise it isn’t. More than a war chronicle or national exposé, it is …

The House | New Group Of Labour MPs Aims To “Drag The Political Spotlight” Onto Men And Boys’ Issues

The House | New Group Of Labour MPs Aims To “Drag The Political Spotlight” Onto Men And Boys’ Issues

Published by Sam Flores

The release of Adolescence in 2025 sparked conversations about modern masculinity (Plan B Entertainment) 8 min read55 min The plight of Britain’s boys has soared up the political agenda over the last year. Noah Vickers reports on a new caucus of Labour MPs taking up the issue Donald Trump powered to victory in part because he won support among young, male Americans; many angry at a political class they believed disliked them. The left’s response has been confused on both sides of the Atlantic. Now, a new group of Labour MPs is trying to change that – by providing a coherent response, in the hope of preventing a similar shift towards Reform by young UK males. Netflix drama Adolescence, about a 13-year-old boy who is arrested for killing a girl in his school, provided a catalyst. The show sparked debates about young men being exposed to toxic influencers online, inculcating them with dangerous or retrograde ideas about masculinity. The series’ popularity was seized on by Keir Starmer, with the Prime Minister …

Mourinho’s Benfica drag Real Madrid with them to Champions League playoffs | Football News

Mourinho’s Benfica drag Real Madrid with them to Champions League playoffs | Football News

Published by Sam Flores

Benfica beat Real 4-2 which sends both teams into Champions League playoffs, as Madrid miss out on top eight. Published On 28 Jan 202628 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored an astonishing 98th-minute header as Benfica beat Real Madrid 4-2 to keep themselves in the Champions League and deny their illustrious opponents an automatic spot in the last 16. In an extraordinary finale on Wednesday, the Portuguese side were ⁠heading out despite leading 3-2 with seconds of stoppage time remaining before Trubin came forward for a free ​kick to score the goal needed to sneak into the playoff round on goal ‍difference. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list That sparked wild celebrations from Benfica players, fans and their charismatic coach Jose Mourinho – a former manager of Real Madrid – at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon. The Spaniards had hoped to finish in the top eight and go straight into the ‍last 16, but ⁠their 15 points from eight games were not enough, …

Louvre Closes Again as Union Negotiations Drag On

Louvre Closes Again as Union Negotiations Drag On

Published by José Betancourt

The Louvre closed on Monday due to a strike as employees’ demands for improved working conditions and pay equity continue to go unmet, marking the fourth day the Paris museum has shuttered since mid-December. The stoppage is one of the longest strikes in the history of the world’s most visited museum, a crisis intensified by the October 19 burglary and related revelations of systemic security failures. According to Le Parisien, roughly 300 employees voted in a general assembly on Monday morning to extend the strike launched on December 15, following several fruitless negotiation sessions with the Ministry of Culture and Louvre management. Related Articles “What we need is political will to ensure that these pay gaps are compensated without delay,” said union representative Christian Galani in a statement quoted by Le Parisien, calling on French Culture Minister Rachida Dati to honor her word after publicly deeming the strikers’ demands “legitimate.”  Valérie Baud, representative of the union CFDT, told the publication that the management of the Louvre sent on a “first draft” of proposals on working …