Billy Porter spent part of his historic Emmy night saying he has no issues with another gay icon: RuPaul. So how did this become a topic in the first place? A GIF. Yes, a freaking GIF.
https://twitter.com/MajorPhilebrity/status/1175946682808360966
RuPaul, 59, accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Program for RuPaul’s Drag Race way before Billy, 50, did for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Pose on Sunday, September 22. The VH1 series has won an impressive thirteen Emmys overall. Yas!
A camera showed Billy appearing less than impressed while RuPaul delivered his emotional acceptance speech. Social media then imploded and thought that there might be issues between the two larger than life television personas.
Billy, however, shot down those rumors instantly after being asked about them while backstage (per Variety).
“RuPaul is a friend of mine. I am so proud of him. I stand on his shoulders. He is doing it. He paved the way for me. There’s never a side eye about that,” he said. “There’s never a side-eye coming from me. There’s never anything negative coming from me. It’s all love, it’s all light, it’s all positivity. Don’t come to me with that mess. Ever, ever, ever.”
Victorious. @theebillyporter becomes the first openly gay black man to win Outstanding Lead Actor in A Drama Series for @PoseonFX. pic.twitter.com/Y1CGRS8ibX
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) September 23, 2019
Billy had bigger and much more awesome things to deal with that night. He became the first openly gay black man to win in his category. He is also one letter away from becoming an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner) with his triumphant victory last night. The multi-talented entertainer previously won a Tony and Grammy for Kinky Boots in 2013 and 2014, respectively.