TV Abbreviations For $200

None of the contestants got it right.

Mary Cheney: Drag Is Like Blackface

"Why is it socially acceptable - as a form of entertainment - for men to put on dresses, make up and high heels and act out every offensive stereotype of women (bitchy, catty, dumb, slutty, etc.) - but it is not socially acceptable - as a form of entertainment - for a white person to put on blackface and act out offensive stereotypes of African Americans? Shouldn’t both be OK or neither?" - Mary Cheney, writing on her Facebook page after seeing an ad for the upcoming season of RuPaul's Drag Race. (Tipped by JMG reader Scott)

RuPaul Drives John Waters (Part 2)

Waters drops an interesting tidbit about Allen Ginsberg.

RuPaul - Sissy That Walk

RuPaul Drives Henry Rollins Part 2

RuPaul Drives Susanne Bartsch

Logo Pulls Episode Of RuPaul's Drag Race After "She-Male" Complaints By Activists

Logo today announced that it has pulled an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race after transgender activists complained about a skit in which contestants were asked to view photos and declare whether the images were of "females or she-males." The issue has been a hot topic on some activist sites since the show first aired. From Logo's statement:

We wanted to thank the community for sharing their concerns around a recent segment and the use of the term 'she-mail' on Drag Race. Logo has pulled the episode from all of our platforms and that challenge will not appear again. Furthermore, we are removing the 'You've got she-mail' intro from new episodes of the series. We did not intend to cause any offense, but in retrospect we realize that it was insensitive. We sincerely apologize.

"She-male" is widely used in porn and is considered among the most pejorative anti-trans expressions by many activists. Two years ago a similar flap erupted over the word "tranny" and RuPaul commented on the issue in an interview with Michelangelo Signorile:

"In the ACT UP age we called ourselves queers because we earned the right, we took the word back. But in reality, once you go even deeper, you know, you have to come from intent. And black folks call themselves the n-word all the time. It's because the intent is coming from a place of love. If the intent is coming from a place of hatred, that's different. But you can't legislate intent. You can't -- there's no way to do it. So, the truth is, you have to fix that individually on a one by one basis. If somebody calls you a green martian, would you be offended by it? No, you wouldn't be. Why? Because you know you're not a green martian. But if you're offended by someone calling you a "tranny," it was only because you believe you are a "tranny!" [laughter.] So then, the solution is: Change your mind about yourself being a "tranny."

RuPaul Drives Olivia Newton-John

RELATED:  Next week Olivia Newton-John, 65, will launch a four month run at the Las Vegas Flamingo. Titled Summer Nights, the show will be a retrospective of her nearly 50-year career, which launched in 1966 with her first single. Her 1971 debut album, If Not For You, yielded the first of 26 US Top 40 hits to date. Five of those singles reached #1 including 1981's Physical, which spent ten weeks at the top. Her 1978 Grease duet with John Travolta, You're The One That I Want, is on the list of the world's greatest selling singles of all time.

RuPaul Drives John Waters

Among other topics, Waters chats with RuPaul about his coming book Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America, which comes out in early June.

RuPaul Trolls Download Pirates: Girl, You Don't Want To Pay A Bitch? Fuck You!

RuPaul is fighting the pirating of her new album, Born Naked, by posting fake versions to BitTorrent in which she disses music stealers with hilarious rants. Via Gizmodo:

Every single track on the album features RuPaul admonishing would-be pirates for not paying up. The decoy version of "Freaky Money" starts off with 30 seconds of what sounds like the build-up to a crazy dance track, when all of a sudden the music fades to the background and RuPaul interjects: "Girl, you just stole my album!" What follows is two minutes and 30 seconds of free association and sass from the drag superstar. It's pretty special. The decoy leak is a creative strategy for adapting to some of the unfortunate realities of digital music to your benefit. Artists should pay attention, and start doing a little trolling of their own.

Listen to one of the spoofed tracks. (Tipped by JMG reader Jeff)

RuPaul - Geronimo

From her just-released album, Born Naked.  Not safe for the office if your company has a "No Twerking" policy.

New Duet From RuPaul & Martha Wash

RuPaul's new album Born Naked is out today and the first track we're hearing is a sparse and lovely duet with Martha Wash, Can I Get An Amen. The lyrics are from one of RuPaul's most famous quotes: "If you can't love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love somebody else?" The album's title itself references another RuPaul gem: "You're born naked and the rest is drag." This isn't what we're used to hearing from either ladies, but I think you'll like it.

UPDATE: The clip has been yanked. Of course.

RELATED: Today RuPaul will ring the closing bell at the NASDAQ Stock Market in celebration of the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, which premieres tonight. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that a drag queen has never been granted that honor.

Lady Gaga & RuPaul - Fashion

Watch it now before it ABC yanks it.

(Via JMG reader Wayne)

RuPaul Launches Make-Up Line

Via press release:

Supermodel of the World and first face of M.A.C. Cosmetics, RuPaul has joined forces with Colorevolution to launch RuPaul’s GLAMAZON, a beauty collection that includes a fine-fragrance and ultra-rich pigment cosmetic line. “GLAMAZON is for women and men of all ages and preferences who share one thing in common: They are not afraid to be fierce, “ said the world’s most famous drag queen. Working with Colorevolution, RuPaul spent the last year meticulously choosing components for both the fragrance and cosmetics to masterfully craft GLAMAZON, a limited edition unisex fragrance and cosmetic set in designer gift boxes. GLAMAZON features the most essential elements needed to create one of RuPaul’s signature looks. Each collectable gift box offers high quality products for an outrageous value. "For me, glamour should be accessible to all, I am committed to helping the world look and smell more beautiful," said RuPaul.

Is this a first for a drag queen? See the line here.

RuPaul Drives Taylor Dayne

The always hilarious Taylor Dayne tells RuPaul about how she got her stage name and things just roll from there. Dayne has seven Billboard top ten pop singles to her credit, the most recent of which was 1990's I'll Be Your Shelter. She's scored 15 top ten hits on the dance chart, including the 2007 number one hit, Beautiful.

RuPaul Drives Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark

It's very hard to believe that Elvira is 62.

RuPaul Chats With Henry Rollins

Stereogum recaps:

Any RuPaul fan worth his or her salt knows that for years his tagline has been “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” But that’s not the only love-related advice he’s proffering. In a recent episode of webseries RuPaul Drives…, in which the drag pioneer gives rides in L.A. to hitchhikers, friends, and celebrities, Henry Rollins is the passenger. Ru beseeches him to open himself up to love, suggesting that he give romance a shot even though Rollins considers himself a failure at it for “not trying hard enough.”

RuPaul Speaks With New York Times

Clip recap: "The world's most famous drag queen tells The Times's Marcus Mabry that despite progress on gay rights, the pendulum could swing the other way." Stick around for when Ru talks about "the love of my life for the last 19 years."

(Tipped by JMG reader Bill)

RuPaul & Big Freedia - Peanut Butter

RuPaul enlists the help of Big Freedia, the queen of the New Orleans "sissy bounce" scene. I wrote about sissy bounce and Big Freedia a couple of years ago.

RuPaul: The Comic Book

RuPaul: Female Force is available for pre-order.

Don't be a drag, just be a queen. Bluewater productions breaks new ground again with big heels in it's latest offering in the popular Female Force Series focusing on RuPaul. RuPaul is easily the most famous drag queen and self-described "Supermodel of the World." This whimsical look at the life and times of the host of the popular Logo series "RuPaul's Drag Race" is as unique as the woMan himself. It is a must have for any collector's closet-- or shelf rather.

The item ships on November 29th.