Former Canada’s Drag Race judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman has opened up about his exit from the program. In a new interview, Bowyer-Chapman alleges racism from the Canadian Drag Race producers, as well as a toxic fanbase that rocked him to his core, prompted his abrupt exit from the program.
Bowyer-Chapman served as one of the permanent judges in the first season of the series, a spin-off of the popular American show RuPaul’s Drag Race. He exited the job prior to Season 2 following a campaign of online blowback for his comments as judge, although he cited “scheduling conflicts” as the official reason for his departure.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Bowyer-Chapman details how American producers convinced him to accept the job as a judge on the show, and the toxic work environment that drove him to leave.
Bowyer-Chapman reveals that Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato–executive producers of the American Drag Race–first convinced him to join the cast of the Canadian version. Upon arriving to set, however, Bowyer-Chapman encountered a new group of local producers, and very different attitudes about his involvement.
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“I came into Canada’s Drag Race with a false sense of security because I had built that trust with the producers of the American show,” he said. “But this was a different set of producers. And I think they were trying to create something impactful and prove themselves along the way. As so, there are many instances where looking back I should have paid attention to my intuition and spoken up. And I didn’t.”
The problems began almost immediately, when a “white, gay, male showrunner pulled me aside, right before I was to meet the queens for the first time, and told me I was the ‘man-candy that was there for the queens to drool over.’ All of the judges had signed these very ironclad contracts stating that we would not fraternize with any of the contestants or the crew off-set,” he said. “That we would have no personal relationships, or dialogue, or contact with the queens whatsoever, other than when we were filming.”
In his introduction to the drag contestants, “the queens were flirting with me and being suggestive in some ways. My walls went up immediately. I realized there were different expectations being put on me that were not being placed on the rest of the cast, and nobody was going to protect me.”
The harassment from the showrunner continued, as Bowyer-Chapman’s boss explained he needed to play the role of the “sassy” judge on the panel. “And being told that from a white person, ever, as a Black person, it’s like a dog whistle,” he noted. “It’s like what is said of Black women and of Black queer men, meaning that you’re the hot-headed, opinionated one who’s going to tell it like it is and not give a shit about what anybody has to say. And that’s not who I am.”
Bowyer-Chapman also attributes that environment, at least in part, to a lack of Black talent behind the camera. “There really was no Black talent,” he alleged. “We’re walking onto a set of Canada’s Drag Race, day one, and the showrunner is telling me how diverse the crew was as he was giving me a tour. And I didn’t see one Black person.”
In a departure from the US version of the show, the Canadian version outfitted judges with earpieces to get suggested snarky comments from producers. Judges also got a list of suggested negative criticisms from producers ahead of time, and were required to record them so editors could drop them into a show at will. The policy made Bowyer-Chapman uncomfortable, as it forced both him and the other judges to constantly deliver negative criticism.
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“Even if we didn’t have anything negative to say, you had to come up with something negative,” he said.
Bowyer-Chapman says he realized the producers were portraying him as aggressively negative after the first episode. Tensions hit a new level several episodes into the season when Bowyer-Chapman had a terse exchange with the contestant Jimbo. The moment, in which Bowyer-Chapman told Jimbo to “use [time] better, maybe,” became an instant meme and prompted fans to create a Change.org petition to have Bowyer-Chapman fired from the show. The petition didn’t garner anywhere near its signature goal, but the moment started a campaign of online bullying that would follow Bowyer-Chapman the rest of the season. The advent of COVID-19 only added to the stress.
“My inbox was flooded with people telling me I was too mean,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was talking about. Just a lot of blatant racism. Their public profiles read ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but their DMs were all about how my Black life didn’t matter. All of us were locked in our homes, riddled with anxiety … and then to be experiencing this hate and verbal violence and emotional assaults, this just blatant racism at the same time from my own community? It was really hard.”
Amid the harassment, RuPaul himself reached out to comfort Bowyer-Chapman. He also advised the then-judge to leave Twitter over the ongoing harassment.
“We had conversations about his experience in this world and this industry as a Black, queer man. As a drag queen,” Bowyer-Chapman recalled. “All the hate and trolling and vitriol he’s experienced his entire life. And it’s really heartbreaking, but he’s experienced it for so many years and he’s so clear-headed about it. He has learned to not take it personally.”
Still, when Season 2 of Canada’s Drag Race rolled around, Bowyer-Chapman opted to leave to accept a role on another series, though not before he “called a lot of attention to the bullsh*t that occurred behind the scenes and the stuff that happened online and their inaction.”
Crave, the network that airs Canada’s Drag Race, released a statement regarding Bowyer-Chapman’s departure and the campaign of online bullying. “In light of the social media attacks and bullying that Jeffrey experienced during season one, we put measures in place to mitigate this for future seasons.,” it read. “This includes a dedicated social media consultant to work with Crave to continue monitoring conversations in real-time.”
For Bowyer-Chapman, though, the lesson is clear: “That’s what happens when it’s only white, cisgender people behind the scenes making the decisions. That’s what happens.”
Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman can now be seen in the Disney+ sitcom Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.
jw8890
Oh so now hes blaming production? If he felt it was wrong he shpuldnt have done it. Dont blame others for your spinelessness. Still playing the victim.
barryaksarben
I have to question your reading and comprehension abilities here. He didnt meet the producers until he had already signed the contracts and they obviously were either lying or delusional if they thought all white straight and all white gay is diversity. If they were demanding negativity (something me and my friends noticed was different from the US race). He like many of us would try to do what the team needed and I dont blame him at all for bailing and applaud his telling people what went on from his point of view. We all have one so why are you so dismissive of his
Caine
@barryaksarben cos his point of view sounds like a crock of who shot john. He is making excuses.
DavidCogginsCogan
‘…I should have paid attention to my intuition and spoken up. And I didn’t.’ JBC said that in the article, which does negate your surprisingly hostile point. It seems wilfully reckless to instantly dismiss a black person’s recounting of an experience in an all-white working environment, too.
Seeing as we’re not in a court of law, or talking about anything more serious than drag queen competing in a globally franchised reality TV show (the very antithesis of real life), maybe give him the benefit of the doubt?
jw8890
@barryksarben my reading comprehension is fine. Hes played the victim and blamed everyone else is to this point. some may be true but he is responsible for his actions. He didnt have to be that person because production told him to.
Gnarfield
Gay men are so hypocritical when it comes to bullying. We whine about being bullied for being gay growing up. But there is so much gay on gay bullying in the community it’s gross, tiresome and completely played out. I wish social media never existed so people wouldn’t be as bold to think their negative opinion on everything matters, because in the grand scheme of things, we are all specks of dust on this planet, and your opinion don’t mean sh*t.
graphicjack
I’ll buy some of this, but not all of it. It’s possible the showrunners were trying to get him be the token hot guy and the sassy judge, sure. It’s possible that a non-diverse crew was trying to pigeon-hole him into black stereotypes. And I do think that the fans gave Brooklyn’s harsh critiques a pass when they didn’t for JBC… but… he still said that shit, and I’m not buying that they fed all that stuff in his ear to say, especially if he says from the jump he never felt comfortable with what they were doing. You had the choice to go along with what they wanted or stand up and say, no, I’m not doing this, I’m not saying that. And yet he did go along with it… so does that absolve him somehow from his behaviour? Does he hold no personal responsibility for his actions? I guess it was everyone else’s fault, but not his own… oh okay, then. Gurl, bye.
Caine
Wow. Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman plays the victim AND the race card. He was a bully on the show and it had nothing to do with the color of his skin. BuH-BYE.
Aaron
You clearly didn’t read the post. The judges were forced to say mean/negative things by the producers giving them instructions through their earpieces. Being the only Black person in the crew and being told you need to be the sassy judge is gross.
Blue Zoo
@Arron – Nobody want’s to watch reality show with judges who can’t muster an effective critique, and on a gay show we expect a little bit of sass. In JBC’s estimation, the producers pushed him into doing these things because he was “the black one,” but if they were looking for a sassy black woman character, well, they had an *actual* black woman on the show already, didn’t they? The other regular judge was Stacey McKenzy. Why not choose her? My feeling was the producers were trying to mold him into a sexy Ross Matthews when he’s really more comfortable as a Paula Abdul. It wasn’t a good fit for him, but it wasn’t racist.
I have to say, I’m a bit surprised that he didn’t think it was insulting to switch his trouble-making, manipulative character on UnREAL from straight to gay, though. I’d have thought he might have asked “why? because you think it’s more believable for a gay man to act this way?”
DavidCogginsCogan
The hostility written in these comments about a judge on a reality TV show about drag queens competing for a made-up title seems utterly ludicrous. I feel slightly embarrassed commenting (twice!), but c’mon guys, grow up. If you think harsh critiques equals bullying, you’ve led a very sheltered life.
Kenny C
Thank you! Its a show about Drag Queens for god sake. People are dying.
Due to comments, however, I feel compelled to mention the whole “race card” thing reveals more about the person using it as a criticism. If a white person thinks the “race card” is some advantage, I would gladly let you borrow mine if I could, and then you can see how much vitriol and hate you get for simply speaking about YOUR experience. And Maybe you can feel what its like to have your feelings disregarded at every turn.
Bengali
Personal non-preference: Not sure if anyone on here saw THE SKINNY but there was one scene in the movie where Jeffrey was saying goodbye to the go-go dancer who’d picked him up. The way he delivered his lines in that moment were cringe. And then there was that much touted terrible horror movie he was in – Spiral – that was a huge disappointment. These are my personal feelings. I’m just not a fan of his.
rickywintour
I’m not a fan of yours but I still tolerate your trolling. Too bad we all can’t find you appealing with your horrible personality.
Cam
He said ““My inbox was flooded with people telling me I was too mean,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was talking about. Just a lot of blatant racism. Their public profiles read ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but their DMs were all about how my Black life didn’t matter. “”
Maybe I’m off here, but comparing people being murdered by police officers, choked to death for 11 minutes and dying in front of a crowd, to people yelling at you on Twitter for being harsh to drag race contestants seems really really REALLY tone deaf.
I watched the show and the incident he got the most backlash over was about him criticizing a Native (First People) Canadian and many thought it was an attack on a larger queen’s body. So I have some doubts that the attacks he was getting from the native community were coming from a racist direction when they themselves have been horribly discriminated against.
Aaron
Police brutality is PART of the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s not everything. BLM also covers all racially motivated violence and harassment of black people. Sending racist DMs to black people? That checks out.
Aaron
Gaslighting minorities about their experiences with racism on the internet? Do your arms hurt from how far you’re reaching? LOL I’m in tears.
Cam
@Aaron
Except the description he gave of them didn’t contain any examples of racist comments. And if you accept that the comments on Twitter for him were all racist, then you must also accept the claims by Native Canadians that his comments to the Queen on Drag Race were also racist.
Or does racism directed at one of the most oppressed and still oppressed groups not matter to you?
Kangol2
I didn’t see his stint on Drag Race Canada and I agree with Bengali that his performance in The Skinny was awful but JBC is nice to look at.
Joshua333
This is the same season where the judges “critiques” made someone have a breakdown on stage. Honestly, this guy isn’t going to be missed on Season 2 because they don’t need the obligatory gay man who has done a film or tv show (and nothing to do with drag) as a judge.
Shady Gaga
You’re the judge of a drag show, not of a master’s thesis defense. You’re supposed to be mean and sassy. All the judges on drag race are mean and sassy.
GayConservMan
Always a victim….girl, bye.
rickywintour
Always a self hating gay white trash person in the comments. Republicans don’t care about you idiot but continue being naive and stupid. Troll, bye!
SDR94103
stop screaming racism. it’s not.
curiobi
Sooo, being sent a barrage of racist abuse on Twitter is not racism? What is then?
jackscott
Seems like someone is desperate for attention right now. Move on & stop making excuses and blaming other, especially after all this time has passed. Funny… he was on a show about producers creating fake tension and stirring the pot, didn’t he learn anything? Why would he think a show about drag queens competing would be anything but camp!!??
sfhairy
As if anyone really cares. What Z list celebrity is he?
Tyrone Johnston
This article further confirms why I am so out of touch. Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman is man candy? There are so many better options in the candy store. This guy makes me cringe. FYI, I haven’t seen a single episode of Drag Race Canada. JB-C irritated me enough on the US version.
rickywintour
I bet you don’t look any better Tyrone. Please go back to the ghetto trash hole you crawled out of troll. Maybe you’ll find some good looks in your troll cave.
tyrammstein
much ado about nothing.
this ru paul’s franchise and it is his responsibility to make sure things run well. but he may be too busy making tens of millions to notice or care…?
drag race has lost its way anyway. in america it i has gone form MTV to VH1 on basic cable to now we have to pay to see it stream… pay to see drag race ??? goodbye to all of you.