After The Real Friends of WeHo was slaughtered by critics, and online hate got so bad social media comments had to be disabled, Todrick Hall got online and decided to make things worse by clapping back at the show's haters.
The six-part series, which follows six semi-famous queens as the manufacture drama in a city they don't even hang out in immediately became engulfed in controversy the minute it was announced that the series would be sandwiched between RuPaul's Drag Race and Untucked.
What made things worse was when fans found out that RuPaul's Drag Race, which normally ran for 90 minutes on VH1 before moving to MTV for it's fifteenth season would be cut down to 42 minutes with commercials.
That didn't sit right with fans, and one fan even took matters into their own hands by launching a Change.org petition to restore Drag Race back to it's 90 minute format.
I should point out that Brad Goreski, Jaymes Hall, Curtis Hamilton and Joey Zauzig have spoken out against all the Drag Race outrage, but I believe that the gripe should be taken out on shady ass MTV, who took it upon themselves to use Drag Race as a springboard for RFOWH, and editing out important pieces of Drag Race - like the judge's deliberations and the extended runways.
"The [Drag Race] fanbase is always super passionate. That's why we love them. They're right to be upset if they want to be upset, but as talent on the show, we're not responsible for where the show ends up. I love the Drag Race community. I love the Drag Race fans and I will continue to love them, no matter what," Brad Goreski tells Out.
As a Drag Race fan himself, WeHo costar Jaymes Vaughan shares a similar sentiment with the fans.
"I would like 120 minutes of Drag Race. If there's anything I can do to get that, that's what I would like," Vaughan adds. "I'm the Drag Race superfan! We did this show, each of us for different reasons, but I can personally speak for myself. I did it for little, scared, gay me that was in those very dark places when I was younger."
Two of the show's castmates are new to the world of reality TV: influencer Joey Zauzig and actor Curtis Hamilton.
"Some people are not going to like us and some people are going to love us. I'm just trying to prepare for that because it's my first time that I'll be dealing with that. Getting to know these boys was everything to me and we're like a little family now," Zauzig tells Out.
"As a Black guy, there's not a ton of representation there," Hamilton adds. "I know some negativity is probably to come as well, but at the end of the day, I think it's going to make me a stronger me. All of us need to support one another and we're all in this together."
Over the weekend, Todrick took to his Instagram in a series of posts to chastise and gaslight the gay community for having the absolute gall of criticizing and refusing to watch a series featuring vapid, stereotypical caricatures of gay people.
First, he reenacted the Regina George fugly slut scene in Mean Girls (I'll never look at that movie the same way again).
He also published a nine-page letter before the show aired:
After the premiere he posted a four-page letter on his Instagram:
Todrick also attempted to address the accusations that he doesn't own his home (which, if you remember he was being sued by his landlords for $100k in back rent), he doesn't pay his dancers (he said it only happens on projects where non-payment is discussed ahead of time). However his explanation felt surface-based.
He also refused to apologize how he came across on Celebrity Big Brother, which some on social media said is one of the reasons why they won't be watching.
In another Instagram post, he doubled down against criticism that The Real Friends of WeHo cast does not truly represent the LGBTQ+ community.
“Why are we thrilled to watch rich Kardashians or Real Housewives, but we only want to watch gays be underdogs, not well off, not too confident?” he asked.
He went on to explain that while the ensemble could have been more diverse, there are only certain people who fitted the requirements of living in Los Angeles, being available and actually having a “desire” to do the show.
“We have to know that queer people attacking our queer cast is not woke, not progressive and not going to change the situation so it’s a waste of time,” he concluded.
It shouldn't come as a shock that fans took to social media to share why they dislike the show, and read Fraudrick for filth for blaming the queer community for not supporting his little show.
“What Todrick Hall doesn’t understand, is Real Friends of WeHo isn’t LGBTQ+ at all. There’s not one lesbian or trans person on the cast,” one person wrote.
“It’s just about a bunch of rich, classist, cis gay men. That does not speak to our community as a whole, so why are you upset we don’t support?”
“Todrick Hall trying to spin the disdain for Real Friends of WeHo as ‘hate within our community’ is the most tone-deaf thing,” another added. “We don’t want this show because it’s about typical WeHo gays. Show us someone interesting… and not self-absorbed.”
The series of posts felt like someone having a manic episode. As someone who has paid attention to how Fraudrick responds to people who call him out on his BS, he's always come across as someone who fails to read the room.
I don't know why people like him and Hollywood execs expect us to support low-hanging TV fruit just because it's pandered to the gay community.
What gay people want to see are films and shows that reflect who we are today, and picking a bunch of self-absorbed queens to shout at each other.
Do I feel that there is a market for this kind of programming? Yes I do, since there are quite a few Housewives-esque reality shows featuring gay, nonbinary and trans people all over YouTube.
However Todrick is missing the point here. I think people would actually watch the show if he wasn't on it, nd the series had a lot more to say about it's characters, outside of Curtis being an actor coming to terms with being an out gay man, and Dorian dealing with social anxiety.
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