‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’: Why do people think Tina Burner is like Sherry Pie?

Oooo gurl! The dish is hot & heavy on Twitter as fans attempt to diss Tina Burner by comparing her to disqualified Rupaul’s Drag Race season 12 contestant, Sherry Pie. And Miss Tina Burner is not having it. Uh, uh!

Oh no, you didn’t!

Sherry Pie was disqualified for some rather dastardly behavior. In an unprecedented situation, she was accused of impersonating a female casting director from New York City in order to sexually harass men who were trying to start their careers as actors. Gurl, you need to behave!

At least five aspiring young actors told BuzzFeed News a contestant on season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race catfished them over several years via email, posing as a casting director who led them to submit embarrassing audition tapes of themselves saying & doing degrading things. One of the young men said he even agreed to masturbate on camera as part of the audition process.

Joey Gugliemelli, better known by his drag persona Sherry Pie, is alleged to have deceived his former classmates at SUNY Cortland in New York, as well as actors he worked with in a Nebraska theater company.

Diss this, Sis

At first Sherry tried to downplay the accusations and say that she had been doing therapy to overcome those issues. However, Drag Race still decided to disqualify Sherry as a contestant.

However, erasing Sherry Pie from Drag Race season 12 wasn’t exactly easy. The show decided to edit out every single confessional that was recorded by the queen and limit her time on the show to a minimum.

But Sherry Pie made it to the grand finale, which meant that she still appeared on the season the entire time, no matter what. All things considered, the fans thought that the production team did a really great job editing Sherry out despite the fact that these accusations surfaced after the season had already premiered. For season 13, this was a real casting concern that producers had to take into consideration.

A shade too much

For no real reason whatsoever, some fans seem to be comparing Sherry Pie to RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 contestant Tina Burner. They’re both comedy/campy queens from New York City, but the show has featured dozens of drag performers that would fall into that category. Now, Tina Burner herself is clapping back on those unfortunate comparisons.

As seen below, Tina tweeted out the following: “Posting that I give bad Sherry Pie vibes is problematic. There are victims of that situation that I’m sure aren’t looking to relive that. From the actual parties involved reaching to the effects of the cast & production.”

In a follow-up tweet, Tina joked that she’s okay being compared to anyone or anything, even if it’s characters like Big Bird or Ronald McDonald. But she added that “The constant sexual allegation comparisons are just tasteless.”

Okay I need to address something. Posting that I give bad Sherry pie vibes is problematic. There are victims of that situation that I’m sure aren’t looking to relive that . From the actual parties involved reaching to the effects of the cast and production.

— Tina Burner (@TheTinaBurner) January 5, 2021

At this point, the Drag Race season 13 cast members have not been accused of anything that would warrant them to be disqualified like Sherry Pie. As such, any comparisons between Tina Burner & Sherry Pie are superficial and vague, which makes them malicious and unfair.

Fans tend  to like certain queens more than others, it happens, but comparing a drag performer to an alleged sexual harasser just based on “vibes” is a dangerous thing that Drag Race fans should avoid at all costs. Sexual harassment accusations are not a joke, no matter who is the victim or perpetrator. It destroys reputations and ruins lives. Best to keep this shady bit to yourself.