Scarlet Adams (L) and Felicia Foxx (R). (BBC/YouTube)
Drag Race Down Under star Scarlet Adams defended herself after being told to “take accountability” for her past use of Blackface.
Aboriginal queen Felicia Foxx hit out at Adams on Tuesday (25 May) after she was photographed wearing a dress bearing the words: “Quit drag”, “flop” and other messages.
Writing on Instagram, Foxx suggested that Adams wrote the messages on the dress in response to recent criticisms over “racist” performances from her past, which saw her using Blackface and other offensive cultural stereotypes.
“I couldn’t tag Scarlett as she has blocked me, can someone make sure this reaches her,” Foxx wrote on Instagram, sharing the photo of Adams’ dress.
“Taking accountability after being called out sis would have been a move in the right direction.
“After seeing this most recent image of you playing victim I’ve come to realisation that a racist like you will never take into count [sic] the atrocity you’ve caused towards marginalised communities.
“I wasn’t the only one who reached out a helping hand to respectfully assist you in taking accountability and visibly seeing where you disrespected numerous cultures being the racist that you are,” she added.
Foxx continued: “Once a racist always a racist!!” and urged Drag Race Down Under‘s production company World of Wonder to complete background checks on queens for future seasons.
In her response, Adams denied that she had blocked Foxx, saying her account was “shadow banned for nudity”.
“I reached out to you a few times actually and was left on read,” Adams said, according to the Star Observer.
“Not sure what narrative has been pushed about this dress, but I has [sic] nothing to do with that situation. It’s nasty things people have said to me over the years including ‘k*ll yourself, ug*ly, f*g, Sl*t, quit drag’ etc etc,” Adams added.
Foxx responded: “Me or any other POC that has been affected by your downright racist actions should [not] have to do the emotional labour you need to do, by owning your wrong doings.”
Drag Race Down Under star Scarlet Adams has faced sustained criticism for using Blackface
Scarlet Adams first faced backlash in March after it emerged that she had used Blackface in past acts. She was also accused of cultural appropriation for a number of performances.
At the time, Foxx shared images of Adams’ past use of Blackface, warning her followers that the content was “distressing”.
“It makes me sick to my core to see numerous people in the LGBTQ+ community who are profiting off of making a mockery and disrespecting people’s cultures,” Foxx wrote on Instagram in March.
“It makes me furious seeing my culture being dismantled, disregarded and s**t on”.
Following the controversy, Adams issued an apology on social media.
“I apologised for this years ago publicly and have faced consequences of it then which included the loss of my job, but as it’s been brought up again I’ll say it again as it’s important to show that those kind of actions are condemnable and to bring it to the forefront of my feed during the current political climate,” Adams wrote on Facebook in March.
“Yep that happened and I won’t try to deny it. I was ignorant, I was young and so f**king stupid. I’m not perfect now but I know I am not that person any more.”
Adams said she was learning to be a “better ally” to people of colour in her post and vowed to continue apologising for her past behaviour.