Sherry Pie disqualified from RuPaul’s Drag Race over catfish allegations

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 12 contestant Sherry Pie has been disqualified after allegations of catfishing were reported by BuzzFeed News.

Sherry Pie, the drag persona of Joey Gugliemelli, has an alleged history of contacting young, male performers posing as a casting director named Allison Mossie. Alleged victims, speaking with BuzzFeed, said that Guliemelli had successfully convinced them to record themselves masturbating or answering sexually-charged questions in order to obtain a role in a play titled Bulk.

“I remember feeling kind of embarrassed about what I was recording,” actor Ben Shimkus told BuzzFeed. “I would record entirely by myself and do it in my off-campus house exclusively when I was alone. It was very damaging to me at the time.”

One minute before BuzzFeed posted the allegations, Gugliemelli took to Facebook with an apology.

“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,” Gugliemelli wrote. “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.”

Following Gugliemelli’s statement, VH1 and RuPaul’s Drag Race production company, World of Wonder, confirmed that the contestant had been disqualified from competition.

“In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie’s statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from RuPaul’s Drag Race,” a spokesperson confirmed.

“Out of respect for the hard work of the other queens, VH1 will air the season as planned,” the statement continued. “Sherry will not appear in the grand finale scheduled to be filmed later this spring.”

It’s unclear how far Sherry Pie had progressed in the season at this point.

RuPaul’s Drag Race airs on Stan here in Australia on Stan. You can get to know the rest of this year’s queens in a post found right here.