The RuPaul’s Drag Race fan base has come together to defend contestant Aiden Zhane after she was eliminated from the show’s most recent episode.
Aiden no doubt had a wild ride during her time on the Emmy-winning series. She excelled in her debut episode where she and five of the other queens had to write and record an original Bob Fosse-inspired jazz number.
The Acworth, Georgia native also showed off her acting chops a couple of weeks later in the Grey’s Anatomy spoof called Gay’s Anatomy where she ended up in the high group along with other current cast members Gigi Goode, Jackie Cox, Jan and Widow Von’Du.
Something that was a constant for Aiden unfortunately was the criticism she faced from her fellow queens, noticeably New York City’s very own Brita who constantly questioned her place in the competition. Brita has received a considerable amount of negativity on social media over her treatment of Aiden and has continued to do so in the wake of her elimination.
A sneak peak of the show’s newest episode was released on YouTube on Wednesday, April 8. This type of footage usually shows the aftermath of what happened last week and the mirror message that the ousted queen leaves for the others to read.
“I love Aiden. She stuck with it. I’m proud of that b**ch,” Brita said to the other girls after reading the mirror message. Heidi N Closet, who has vigorously defended Aiden in the past, continued to do so in her confessional. “I know that she had been feeling pressure of some of the girls coming at her, but she has a personality. It just didn’t get to come out.”
An interesting note to take from this was the cameras panning on Brita and disqualified contestant Sherry Pie while Heidi was talking about Aiden. Does this mean that Sherry was bullying her just as much as Brita was and that’s one of the reasons why she’s been so heavily edited throughout the season?
Widow and many of the fans called Brita out on her words about Aiden post-elimination (Brita was the one to send her home in a Frozen inspired lip sync for your life). “Once again, you can just taste the fakeness in the air,” the Kansas City queen said in her confessional. “Everybody wants to act like they actually gave a s**t about Aiden. You all wanted her gone. Can somebody tell me when this turned into Best Friend Race? Cuz back in Untucked b**ch I guess y’all had a lot to say but now you don’t.”
Here’s a taste of the some of the fan comments over the situation:
Brita literally bullied her on every episode! Now she’s up here lying about some ‘I love her’ and ‘I’m proud of her.’
‘I love Aiden.. she stuck with it.’ With what? You’re constant bullying and harassment? God. This is scary. This is exactly what my bullies did in high school.
Aiden chatted with Instinct Magazine exclusively earlier this week where her treatment on the show was one of the many questions asked for this rising star. “Well, I think on the outside I tend to be able to usually be a pretty strong person and I don’t let those types of things get to me,” she said. “Even now with some of the crazy fans and some of the things that they say online, it really doesn’t bother me. In a situation like Drag Race, it is such an odd situation and such a high stress competition.”
She continued, “It is never easy in any situation feeling like you’re being judged by someone or feeling like you’re not good enough or feeling anything like that. I am sure that how it felt for a lot of people viewing it is how it felt for me in the situation. Watching it back, I kind of enjoyed it. I have said many times, we went through this crazy situation so you guys could enjoy it. Let our pain be your pleasure (laughs). In that moment though, it did not feel good. I was already feeling insecure about myself and that just added onto it. It just kept supplying me with those negative thoughts and validating my own fears.”