We Have to Talk About RuPaul's TikToks

Take, for example, one where she goes full-on Drag Race mini challenge glam and clips herself into an old 80’s movie, nipple-pastied breast plate and all. Or an uncanny valley-esque short where she goons to the audio, “I put a whole bag of jelly beans up my ass.” Her commenters revel in concern and intrigue, with a running joke in the comments section being: “Katya is gonna love this one.”

It’s easy to take this new RuPaul era as some sort of recession indicator. But given her lavish LA home and the hundreds of Drag Race spin-offs around the globe, I don’t think that’s the case. RuPaul is just having the time of her life. It makes the most sense, actually, that RuPaul would take on the TikTok era in this way. But we have questions: where does she get these wigs? What Gen Z intern has been tasked with collecting all these found footage-esque TikTok audios? Or is Ru actually doing this herself?

There’s a mystery to it that makes it joyful amidst an otherwise dreary celebrity landscape. These days, it seems like A-List celebs have had to go through some internet humiliation rituals: the Harry Daniels planned PR moment, or the Jennifer Hudson Show spirit tunnel walk. Back in the day, our stars were these untouchable, God-like beings. Now, they’re forced to join TikTok to promote their album releases and hopefully get some streams in an oversaturated media world.

Given the state of things, and the fact that the iconic What’s the Tee podcast with Ru and Michelle Visage no longer exists, at least RuPaul's TikToks give us a glimmer of joy. The Queen of Drag has reclaimed the algorithm.