Maddy Morphosis arguing with Jasmine Kennedie on Drag Race felt wrong – here’s why

I often wonder if Maddy Morphosis was chosen to go on season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race for their drag or because they identify as straight. Maddy’s casting made them the first ever cis male straight identifying contestant in the show’s long history, and created the discourse over whether should Drag Race be for queer people only, when the show consistently preaches that drag is for everyone. “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag”, as RuPaul herself has famously stated. The casting clearly had the headline grabbing impact that was desired – not to discredit Maddy’s drag, as clearly they’re a queen with a great sense of humour and wit and performance ability even if the aesthetic wasn’t ultimately up to much. Maddy Morphosis was more than welcome to the Drag Race family in my opinion – but this week, when they had a heated fight with Jasmine Kennedie, I found it uncomfortable. Here’s why.

Drag IS for everyone

I just really want to make that clear, before I make any further points. Everyone deserves to do drag if they have the love and appreciation for it and the desire to. Drag is literally all about self expression, identification and community. Maddy has their place in the Drag Race canon like every other queen who has walked through the Werk Room doors. Is there any scenario where I’d rather a straight man get cast over an LGBTQ+ person, no there isn’t. And I really feel like that since RuPaul’s Drag Race is so heavily rooted in queer culture, in queer humour, in camp – they were always going to sort of… falter.

The challenges are designed with gay men in mind – which is an issue in itself. Mini challenges are sexually charged, and the show is flanked with the Pit Crew, namely a bunch of muscled up men who carry things about in tight underwear. Thus occurs the sort of hilarity where we have to watch Maddy try and pop a balloon by thrusting into the bent over arse of a Pit Crew member like they’re topping, all the whilst wincing and grimacing through it as RuPaul squawks in amusement. It’s a bizarre thing to watch. Maddy looking awkward is the first weird move, because like… They applied to come on Drag Race? What did they think was going to happen? And secondly, it’s not funny.

The p*ssy was not aflame

RuPaul’s critiques of Maddy this season have just added to the storyline of a gimmick casting that never really hit its stride, and Monet and Bob have touched on it a lot in their various recaps that the thing RuPaul is asking Maddy to serve just simply can’t happen because they’re not LGBTQ+. I don’t know if that’s necessarily the case, but it is true that the way Maddy walked the runway or served a look was always missing that touch of really powerful drag magic,

The fight felt… uncomfortable

Drag Race is reality television. The fights and the arguments are often squashed and settled between the queens long before the show airs, and I didn’t watch the big fight between Maddy Morphosis and Jasmine Kennedie in Drag Race Untucked thinking anything other than that it was probably a petty heated moment that got resolved fast. However, I did find watching the kick off a bit uneasy. For me, Maddy completely started that entire spat. They insisted that Jasmine would be serving the second best lip sync of the night, showcasing their confidence that they’d send Jasmine home. Jasmine seemed completely unphased, and smugly wished Maddy luck and says she wasn’t worried about the lip sync.

You can then SEE in Maddy’s eyes that this is incensing them, as they say to Jasmine “you should be worried.” But the thing is… Why should Jasmine be worried? She performs for a living, and is ready to do the number. Why does Maddy want her to flap it? There’s something really weird to me watching a straight guy come into a queer space and shout at their competitor to be worried about them or tell them that they’re going home. I’m glad that the fight was resolved and that there seems to be no bad blood between Maddy and Jasmine, but I’m equally glad that Jasmine absolutely bodied Maddy in the way she handled the argument and navigated the conversation. It just made it all the more sweet when Jasmine annihilated the lip sync and earned her “Shantay you stay” like she felt like she was going to.

Men and women of all sexualities and gender identities and every identity in between have a home in the drag community and deserve the right to get on Drag Race, but my two cents is respect queer people in their own space and try and handle yourself without shouting them down or raising a fight.

Catch up on the Maddy Morphosis and Jasmine Kennedie fight during RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 by streaming in the UK on Wow Presents Plus. For all the latest Drag Race memes and Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

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