Graham Norton. (Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Graham Norton has criticised the “toxic cabal” of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK fans that have driven some queens off Twitter altogether.
Contestants such as A’Whora and even season two winner Lawrence Chaney have distanced themselves from social media after, they said, the “disgusting” abuse they suffered online.
Norton, the British television personality who appeared as a judge on the show, said that Twitter gives some viewers a megaphone to amplify their hate without realising the harm they cause.
“The [Drag Race] fans are really lovely,” he told the Daily Mirror, “but I am aware there is this toxic cabal – and if they don’t like one of the drag queens, they go for them in a horrible way.”
Graham Norton urges trolls to realise the ‘damage’ they cause
Queen Sister Sister previously spoke out on Twitter and in a Guardian article about trolls online describing “in graphic detail how they would like to see me die”.
“If you’re in bed at night reading horrible comments about yourself, who knows what damage that does to you?” Norton said.
“I feel for young people who think they have to engage on those platforms.”
The 58-year-old, who previously compared Twitter to a “24-hour pub brawl“, went onto reflect on how social media hasn’t so much made people more vicious but simply given them a platform.
“I don’t think we’re any crueller or nicer than we’ve ever been,” he said.
“I just think that social media has given us a weird way to shout at the television so that the person on the television hears you.
“And that can’t be good for anyone.
“Ultimately Twitter, in particular, has to do something because it’s like a neighbourhood. If it’s rough and dangerous, people move out and it becomes a no-go area.
“It doesn’t matter what you say, you could tweet, ‘Morning, what a lovely day’ – and people will tweet back: ‘Oh, that’s easy for you to say’.”