Having been a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race since season one was airing on television, I have come to realize that (for the most part) my opinion of a queen during their time on the show rarely stays the same as time goes on. Some of my favorite queens from the show now were not my favorites during their time on the show, and vice versa.
No T, no shade, no pink lemonade, but watching RuPaul’s Drag Race season 7, I admit that I fell victim, like almost every Drag Race fan, to believing that Jasmine Masters was a c-u-n-t. Since I was mostly unaware of Jasmine before the show, I had no way of knowing what she was actually like outside of her Drag Race edit.
Speaking to Jasmine for this interview, I’ve got to discover the kind person she really is. While there is no doubt that she said some negative things during her time on Drag Race, the events that led up to her saying those things is completely unseen because of editing. Listen to our entire conversation to hear Jasmine’s side of things and get to know the amazing person you didn’t see on the show.
I am happy I gave Jasmine a second chance because I have completely fallen in love with her charm and personality. I promise you that you will feel the same if give her the chance. Don’t let her edit on Drag Race define who she is.
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Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Read a bit of our conversation transcribed below, which is only the tip of the iceberg, then listen to the podcast above or download it on Soundcloud.
Tim: Following your elimination from RuPaul’s Drag Race, you received death threats on social media and were being called inappropriate names. Thankfully, RuPaul came to your defense. Susie Wolf, a fan on Facebook, wanted to know what are some things you have done to preserve your self confidence in the wake of this terrible online backlash?
Jasmine: Thank goodness that I have friends who have traveled down this road before me who already tested me on what could happen, what’s going to happen, so I was already prepared for it. Overall, I know who I am. I know what I stand for, so all the negativity, it came and it hurt, but I know who I am, so it is easily erased from my mind because it’s B.S. what they’ve seen and what they think they know about me.
You tweeted out something about “Today was the first day I woke up and I didn’t have a passion for drag.” Was that because of the hate, the negativity and the bullying that people were doing to you online?
That had a lot to do with it, but I think it was more of some of the ones who were saying “I will kill you” or “I’m going to hurt you.” – it was the ones who were saying that they were going to harm me. That was sad to me because if someone could make you so mad, over a television show, and there’s a whole bunch of editing going on, if you could get so upset by that where you want to ruin your life by hurting someone else over that, that was just so sad for me because I didn’t expect for that to happen.
I love drag, but I don’t love it enough to where I would want someone to ruin their life over me, over a TV show. So, I thought I had better just stop because it was not worth it, you know? It wasn’t meaning that I was going to stop doing drag. Some of us get in the passion for it and sometimes the passion leaves, but I was never going to give up. I was just really sad at that moment that people was basically putting their life on the line to hurt me over a TV show. I thought that was very sad; that was the most saddest part of all of it.
I feel like the fans are so passionate about this show nowadays, and you got so much hate, which is like the exact opposite of what fans are normally doing. Or do you see a lot of the queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race getting a lot of hate online, aside from yourself?
Honestly, I’m really not that big on social media, so I really don’t be on all that stuff, but me and the girls that were on this season, we do text message each other and some of us call each other, and we’re all getting the same hate. Not one girl on the show has got all positive feedback – everyone has gotten something like “Kill yourself” or “You’re ugly” or you’re this or you’re that or “I hate you” or “I’m gonna kill you.” We all have to see the same type of messages from everyone, which is a very sad thing because drag is not about that.
I think I got more of it. People were telling me I think I got more because I was speaking the truth, and I was speaking. They may not like how my delivery came out, but they don’t even know why it came out. It looked like I was bullying the girls – the younger girls – and that wasn’t the case. I got a lot of it because I speak my mind all the time.
Whenever you would lead into what you had to say, you would say, “I’m not trying to be shady, I’m just trying to tell you the truth. I’m not going to lie to you, but I have this opinion.” Was there something prior to that that was edited out or why do you think that opinion came across so harsh on TV?
Because the way I speak and stuff. If you watch videos of me on YouTube, I will tell you the truth, but I’m speaking like oh that’s some fuckin’ bullshit, like treat everybody equal. I’m speaking like that and that is how I talk. Period. But if you’re behind a computer and you cut and slice things, once they record it, they can put it anyway they want to, just like how we make music for our shows. It’s the same thing with Drag Race. It’s all editing.
For me to have to say the things I said, what was said to me to make me say that? I can’t just pop up and say “Oh, let me just start talking about this person so bad.” Why am I talking about this person? Because this person said something to me for me to defend myself. And sometimes it wasn’t even me and a person arguing. We were just having a conversation and I’m like, bitch, if you can’t cook and you got on a cooking show, but you make beautiful aprons, well girl, let me tell you a trick about boiling some eggs and some noodles. Do this and do that, and you say “Oh, gurl, I don’t want to do that.” Well then, bitch, you on the wrong show!
I got why you got on the cooking show – because you make beautiful aprons. How else can you show that you make beautiful aprons besides getting on the cooking show? I get that, but you just can’t stand there and watch the eggs boil and not do whatever you need to do to them afterward. It doesn’t work like that.
Just for example, with that situation, they say, “Oh gurl, you out for the wrong competition.” No, she’s not for the wrong competition, she’s on the right competition cause she wants to be a makeup artist. That’s her brand. But, sister, they gonna ask you to perform after this show and you’re not a performer, so get your ass some friends out there to shimmy shimmy shimmy, drop it low, bring it back up. Pose, smile, grab your coin dollars and go to the next person and do the same thing. You’re not a dancer or a performer, but you are a makeup artist. That’s why you’re here because this is your biggest platform. I appreciate you for that. You didn’t have nowhere to go.
If I’m encouraging you to get a friend out there to shake their ass, because a friend is gonna work for you, I’m not being rude, I’m telling you, “Bitch do this.” I’m trying to help you, you know what I mean? I’m helping you by telling you. I could be like, “Bitch you’ll be fine, don’t worry about it,” but if I’m giving you encouragement “Oh, well you can’t perform, grab your friend to shake it,” the crowd ain’t gonna know. You shakin’ it, the friend is workin’ for you. Everybody’s hot to go!
It seems like with Drag Race, as you said, with it being such a big platform, all of these entertainers get on there and they have a different set of skills. Some of them are performers, some of them are major makeup artists. What they find, being on Drag Race, is that you really have to be that whole package, you can’t just be a makeup artist.
You have to be. You have to be. People like Raja – Raja has been doing makeup way before Drag Race and Raja has been performing way before Drag Race, but Raja is a makeup artist. Her passion is makeup. She’s a fierce makeup artist, so I can get why she got on the show because she’s a performer as well. Raja has some fierce numbers. But if that’s your passion, you need this to get up there so people can see your art, even if it’s on yourself, to get to know who you are and get your name out there. I commend any girl that does drag that has some kind of passion – bitch get on the show and do because that’s your platform and build your own platform and start your own empire!
I’m never the one to knock a bitch down. I want to help a bitch rise, because if I say, “Bitch, I need $5,” I want you to give all the little girls the $5 because she gave me the backbone to grow my empire, so let me give her the $5 without asking her to give it back to me with interest.
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Jasmine Masters was such a sweetheart to talk with and she is truly a kindhearted person. I encourage you to listen to the full podcast episode to get to know the Jasmine you never got to see on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Whether or not you are a fan of Jasmine, you really should give her a second chance. Downloads of the podcast are available, so feel free to download them and listen to it in your car on your way to work or school, listen to it while you’re out on a run or listen to it while you a laying in bed. Don’t let what you saw of Jasmine on television be the only impression you get of this kind and loving person.
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Dmitry Filippov
Sorry but the things what she said its total bullshit! It is your f##ing responsitranity – thinking what are you saying when you are on TV , and now she’s trying to look as victim and angel, bullshit
Freakshow
She’s just very real, she isn’t pretentious or fake and sometimes people like that get misunderstood. Nobody is perfect, I luv her anyway.
Stefy
She’s kind on social media to people who are nice to her unlike some queens that never respond