Drag Race fans call out Tamron Hall for agreeing to interview Sherry Pie
16 February 2021, 12:03
Tamron Hall explains why she decided to interview RuPaul’s Drag Race's Sherry Pie
"Give a platform to the victims. The mistakes are unpardonable and the mistakes are shameful. We don’t want this Tamron Hall."
RuPaul's Drag Race fans have criticised Tamron Hall for interviewing disgraced Season 12 contestant Sherry Pie.
Sherry Pie, real name is Joey Gugliemelli, was disqualified from Season 12 of RuPaul's Drag Race after he admitted to coercing several men into recording themselves performing sex acts by posing as a casting director.
In March 2020, several men came forward with claims Sherry had convinced them to film themselves auditioning for a fake role, and even masturbating, under the guise they were to be selected for a theatre production of A Nightmare Before Christmas, which they were told Tim Burton was involved in.
READ MORE: RuPaul's Drag Race have donated Sherry Pie's $5000 tip to an LGBTQ charity
At the time, Sherry apologised in a Facebook post, which read: "This is Joey, I want to start by saying how sorry I am that I caused such trauma and pain and how horribly embarrassed and disgusted I am with myself. I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel. Until being on RuPaul’s Drag Race, I never really understood how much my mental health and taking care of things meant.
"I learned on that show how important 'loving yourself' is and I don’t think I have ever loved myself. I have been seeking help and receiving treatment since coming back to NYC. I truly apologize to everyone I have hurt with my actions. I also want to say how sorry I am to my sisters of season 12 and honestly the whole network and production company. All I can do is change the behavior and that starts with me and doing that work."
Although Sherry had already filmed the show, she was disqualified and banned him from both the reunion and finale. She was also cut out from scenes as much as possible and Drag Race included a disclaimer before each episode to remind viewers.
On Monday (Feb 15), it was announced on Twitter Sherry Pie would be interviewed on Tamron Hall's talk show. "On the next Tamron Hall, one of the breakout stars of RuPaul's Drag Race, Sherry Pie, booted from the show after being hit with lewd accusations of catfishing men. For the first time, Sherry Pie comes clean. What really happened, next Tamron Hall," the tweet read.
Many were disgusted that Sherry had been given a platform to speak about her actions.
I am publicly calling on @TamronHallShow to reconsider giving Sherry Pie access to the platform of national television to tell their side of the story without first speaking with the victims of her abuses and allowing them to weigh in on their own trauma. (1/4)
— Jackie Cox (@JackieCoxNYC) February 15, 2021
I’m the reporter who first wrote about Sherry Pie. There are things here that suggest a worrying lack of research (accusations? she admitted the behaviour) but the biggest is one victim has already contacted me in distress as it appears there’s been no effort to hear from them. https://t.co/cZbtzmY0Gv
— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 15, 2021
Why is miss girl giving Sherry Pie a platform??? 😐😐😐 pic.twitter.com/0ljXuoVvKc
— Rodrigo💚 (@limegreenroger) February 15, 2021
The amount of Ru girls that still follow Sherry Pie is honestly pretty ICK. As someone who has survived sexual abuse I can first hand say how much those experiences alter you as a person, and for her to receive any sort of support or recognition from main stream media is WRONG.
— Ilona Verley (@IlonaVerley) February 16, 2021
Tw// Sherry pie
— Stan Jackie (@stanjackiejoon) February 15, 2021
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Give a platform to the victims. The mistakes are unpardonable and the mistakes are shameful. We don’t want this @TamronHallShow @tamronhall. Sherry just posted this on Instagram and I’m shocked. pic.twitter.com/TvtzJWqaTJ
WHO was looking for Sherry Pie to speak? Who?
— petty crocker (@hwtibbs) February 15, 2021
I have not looked up once in the past 11 months and thought “I’d like to hear from Sherrideth Pie”
One of Sherry's accusers, Ben Shimkus, confirmed that they had been contacted by the show and asked to appear, but he refused.
He tweeted: "Just so we are all clear on this, I spoke with producers at @TamronHallShow and told them that I and the 20 victims that I spoke to today DO NOT want them to air a segment with Sherry Pie. They're going to air it despite the all of our requests." He also called out the show for giving a platform to Sherry and inflicting trauma on the queer community.
Sherry Pie has since spoken out following the backlash to share a post promoting their appearance on Tamron's show. It's Sherry's first Instagram post since March 2020.
In an Instagram post, she wrote: "It's been a long year of learning to own my many unpardonable mistakes. I'll be sharing my story, reflecting on my shameful actions, and working towards making amends live on THE TAMRON HALL SHOW tomorrow, 10am EST @tamronhallshow."
