Melissa McCarthy’s not just a drag fan & ally, she was also a drag performer who appeared at Wigstock

Between right-wing outrage at Melissa McCarthy’s recent IG post defending drag and folks in the LGBTQ+ community saying her Ursula role in The Little Mermaid should’ve gone to a drag queen, the star is getting it from all sides.

What neither camp seems to be considering (or possibly even aware of?) is McCarthy’s own past as a drag performer. Not the one night only, Lizzo as Amazonia Prime, Bad Bunny in “Yo Perreo Sola” drag performance, but a truly defined queen character.

This extravaganza was back in her pre-fame days in the early ’90s when she was hustling in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen and rooming with super-hot shoe designer Brian Atwood. She told the tale of Atwood and friends prompting her to take the stage in full geish to Rolling Stone years ago.

“It was me there with my lovely gay guy friends and I was dressed like a big old drag queen,” she said. “I went by Miss Y.”

How about we take this to the next level?

Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.

Daily

Weekly

Promotions and Partner Emails

The name seems to have been derived from “Missy”, a nickname Atwood refers to her with later in the piece.

“I had a gold lamé swing coat on, a huge wig, big eyelashes,” she recalled. “I talked about being incredibly wealthy and beautiful and living extravagantly, and the first night worked great. It was such a happy, good feeling, and it gave me such confidence.”

Related:

Surprise! Yet another anti-drag legislator’s dragged-up past just surfaced, because of course it did

Even clockwork isn’t this reliable.

Miss Y wasn’t relegated solely to the stage, either. Even though her comedic chops were burning it up under the lights, McCarthy was known to take her out for a stroll every once in a while.

She even subjected Miss Y to day drag when she attended the iconic Wigstock festival.

“It was the time of Lady Miss Kier, RuPaul, and Lady Bunny, and Miss Y was Missy’s great alter ego,” said Atwood. “When we went to Wigstock at Tompkins Square Park, Miss Y was at her prime there. Full-on. That was her time. It was hilarious.”

If 19-year-olds on TikTok can slap on a shake-and-go and get their Drag License™, performing live as an opulent comedy queen and hitting Wigstock in full paint should get McCarthy at least an honorary pass.

Related:

Loretta Devine talks ‘Dreamgirls’, Mary J. Blige, and lipsyncing for her life on ‘Celebrity Drag Race’

It still feels like that first elimination was a dream, girl!

On top of her olden drag days, the actress has dabbled plenty in years since. She took to her first Entertainment Weekly spread as the seminal John Waters vixen, Divine.

She had us ready to die for art:

Even her recurring Trump-era Saturday Night Live character might qualify as kingly drag if you squint.

Her Sean Spicer moment, at one point complete with heels, drove that lectern right into our hearts:

Okay, even if including Spicey is fudging the drag rules a bit, her history in Hell’s Kitchen still stands.

If enough rabble continues to be raised, maybe we’ll even see a Miss Y reappearance in the future? Fingers crossed!