RuPaul's Drag Race host, judge and executive producer RuPaul Charles has deleted his Twitter account and wiped out his Instagram profile, following a three-month social media hiatus during which he was criticized for not using his platform to spread awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. Judging from his drag persona, it may seem to some that RuPaul is an extrovert who uses a lot of social media. However, RuPaul is quite different from his drag character, often describing himself as an introvert who does not even have social media apps on his smartphone.
Over the years, RuPaul adopted Twitter as his main social network, regularly promoting the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise and other projects, which include the What's The Tee? podcast and the Netflix series AJ and the Queen. After a long time resisting Instagram, RuPaul finally joined the social platform a few years ago. However, the Drag Race host was never entirely active on Instagram, having often confessed to Michelle Visage on their podcast that he didn't even know how Instagram Stories worked. Now, it seems like RuPaul is done with social media.
The last time that RuPaul was seen on social media was March 28, when he sent out a tweet promoting a new episode from the What's The Tee? podcast. Then, a facekini-wearing RuPaul appeared on TV for the Drag Race season 12 reunion and finale, all while staying completely silent on social media. In a tweet sent on June 5, Drag Race season 10 winner Aquaria called out RuPaul's social media hiatus in relation to his lack of response regarding the Black Lives Matter movement, saying, "I really hope you all know how truly saddened so many queens are about this silence." On Thursday, fans started to notice that every single post from RuPaul's official social media accounts was being deleted, eventually leading to his deleted Twitter account and wiped-out Instagram profile, which also had a new, out-of-drag profile picture for the first time ever.
RuPaul and his team have yet to issue a statement regarding this social media erasure. Meanwhile, fans have started to wonder if RuPaul is stepping away from drag, and if he intends on terminating his judging and hosting duties from RuPaul's Drag Race series. It is certainly unexpected that RuPaul has chosen to completely delete his Twitter despite being somewhat active there, while also choosing to keep Instagram, which he wasn't particularly active on. Moreover, updating his Instagram profile with an out-of-drag picture (for the first time in history) seems like a deliberate move that could send the message that Ru may be leaving drag behind.
All fans can do now is wait and see if RuPaul will issue an official statement regarding this social media erasure. Otherwise, given that all productions are on an indefinite COVID-19-related hiatus and that RuPaul's Drag Race season 13 wasn't scheduled to air until 2021, fans might not see or hear from RuPaul for quite some time.
Sources: @RuPaulOfficial, RuPaul, Aquaria