Acid Betty, Brooklyn NY native, and one of the contestants from the eighth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, appeared at Pure Pride as part of the 2017 edition of Edmonton Pride, where between beating off admirers she stopped to chat to us.
At 37, she was one of the oldest, most experienced drag queens on the show. While everyone was still in the womb, as Acid Betty put it, "...I was in the dark clubs doing nasty things...I’ve been doing this for almost fifteen years, and I was on Project Runway before RuPaul’s Drag Race and I’ve done some other TV shows that you might catch me looking crazy." She was going to retire before her appearance on Drag Race, but for the show she felt "one last time."
Acid Betty reminisced about the first drag show she attended and where she met fellow drag queen Raja Gemini. "She was the first drag queen I ever saw when I was seventeen years old and I snuck into my first gay bar." To Acid Betty, Raja was this awesome, glorious, tall Amazon who she’s now known for many years, and whom also performed on Drag Race (season 3 winner).
Regarding reality shows, we discussed with Acid Betty the production process of these shows, how they edit shows to create a plot point, and how different countries impact the theme of franchised reality shows like Big Brother. "Our version (American) of Big Brother is weird / cut people’s heads off...very American, very cutthroat, undermining, and they lie to each other and it’s kind of the nasty side of a human being. Like Americans." She’s seen reality shows from other countries and noticed even though contestants know it’s a competition, there’s a noticeable difference in how they treat each other compared to the American franchise.
Yet being on a reality show as a performer has its publicity advantages, and sometimes this means blowing up or creating a new brand for yourself. As for Acid Betty, "Well, I’m doing the same thing but on crack. It’s the same thing but bigger because I really wasn’t doing merchandise like crazy and doing little installations here and there but now I’m doing that." She has a larger audience and platform to work from, for which she credits Drag Race for the boost.
Conversely, "...they tried to assassinate my character by turning me into a bigger cunt than I am. I’m a big asshole, but not as big as I was. I still did fine for myself". A large part of this was editing and playing up rivalries to create drama, which Acid Betty understands, yet if you only watched the show you’d think she was enemies with fellow contestant Chi Chi Devayne: "...and Chi Chi ended up being my best friend...even to the point she was texting me ‘Omigosh...we’re enemies now?!’". You can tell while she understands this is how the show works, she still found it ridiculous when behind the scenes it’s the opposite. "It’s TV," she sadly conceded, "...reality TV." That being said if there’s a third RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race, it’s entirely possible you might see the return of Acid Betty to the competition.
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Contributor Evan Kayne | Steve Polyak |
Locale Edmonton |
Person Acid Betty |
Topic Celebrity Interview | Celebrity Video Interview | PurePride | RuPaul’s Drag Race |
