Please welcome RuPaul Charles.
(cheering and applause)
Thank you.
-Hi. -Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much. I feel like I'm at home here.
You know, we used to film our talk show here 20 years ago.
-That is insane. You... -This very same studio.
So you were filming the show when you were, what, five?
Well, darling, when you were five, perhaps.
No, a long time ago.
-Long time ago. -Yeah, you have...
you have been in the game for a long time.
You've been successful for a long time.
I didn't choose the game. The game chose me.
(cheering and applause)
True.
Many people would argue that RuPaul
is the reason drag became widely accepted in society.
Is that a contradiction, in a way?
Is that a paradox, drag being accepted?
Because, in many ways,
drag is meant to buck mainstream, right?
Yeah, no, drag really breaks the fourth wall.
It really says, um, you are not who you think you are.
-You're actually playing a role. -Right.
So most people can't accept the idea
that they, too, are playing a role.
So, no, drag-- I don't think that drag
will ever really be mainstream
unless people evolve to this place
where they are these existentialist gurus.
-(laughs) -Well, what does drag mean for you, though?
Like, I-I've seen you say
-that in many ways... -Money. Mortgage.
Mortgage payment. Car payment.
-(laughter) -You know.
(cheering and applause)
-Money. -Yeah, I mean, it has paid your bills,
but it's also done something really powerful
in that, like, in many ways,
it-it defies what masculinity is meant to be, right?
Yeah, absolutely. It's a punk rock statement.
It says to this masculine-dominated culture,
you know, "You know what?
"I'm not gonna fit in this box. I'm not gonna fit in that box.
"I'm gonna say, hoo, hoo, hoo!
Boxes! Who cares about boxes?" You know?
That's the only way I could survive this life,
-was to just be a heckler and have fun with it. -Right.
You know what?
Everybody takes everything so seriously.
They take themselves seriously.
Ugh, I can't do that. I can't...
(slurring): What's in here? I can't do it!
Bartender!
(laughter and applause)
The, uh... I would say that that little moment there
is the encapsulation of RuPaul's Drag Race.
-(laughs) -It's, "Whoopsie, what's in this?"
(speaking gibberish)
Um, no, because, like, it's a really fun show,
and-and we're living in this world.
And it's really controversial, as well.
Like, the voting in the Drag Race...
Like, this last season now, people were really up in arms
about who got chosen to be the winner.
Like, you guys basically brought in your own electoral college.
-Why did you do that? -(laughs)
You know, people...
You know, all the girls are winners.
You know, whoever takes home the cash,
that's a whole nother subject, but they're all winners.
They're all winners.
But there's one winner with money.
Oh, trust me, trust me,
those bitches are out there right now
making $100,000 a night.
You know, they are, they are pulling in the coinage.
-Right. -They are making the dollars.
And they are all winners.
So, you know...
But, you know, the fans are outrageous.
You know, they get exci... they get very excited.
-Right. -And so it doesn't matter who wins.
They gon' be talking. They gon' be,
"What, what, what? What? Ooh, why she didn't win?
"Ooh, she got... And then she was up in...
"I said, 'Uh-uh, no, she didn't!'"
-They always do that, Trevor, darling, -Right.
so it's just okay.
It's okay.
In fact, we have, uh...
we have another season starting up.
It's already starting up,
so they gon' be talking about that one, too.
If you could change one perception
that people have of drag in the world,
-what would that change be? -You know what?
I learned years ago I can't change the world.
I can change my mind,
but I ain't concerned with other people.
You think I'd be sitting in this seat
if I was caring about what other people had to say?
Uh-uh. No.
(cheering and applause)
I-I ain't studying other people.
I am not... I am not studying other people,
-'cause other... You know why? -That's...
'Cause other people are crazy.
They're crazy. They really are.
(slurring): What's in this?
Whatever it is, I'm glad we both got some.
RuPaul, ladies and gentlemen.