Both winners of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4 are standing in solidarity, as Trinity the Tuck announced Saturday (March 2) that she is cutting ties with Murray & Peter Present (MP), the event company responsible for the Haters Roast, a popular drag comedy tour. Her announcement follows news that Monét X Change was removed from the production after skipping a tour date to accept an offer to appear in an upcoming Madonna music video.
Monét’s firing from the tour wasn’t the sole reason Trinity came to her decision though. She tells Billboard: “I had a good working relationship with MP Presents in the past since season 9. It wasn’t until the past few months of hearing things from other entertainers who have worked with them, the statements I have seen from some fans on how they were treated and also the most recent incidents including Monét and Ginger’s husband CeeJay.”
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Ginger Minj was previously fired from the Haters Roast tour after missing a few tour dates for a filming obligation (Billboard confirmed that she was allowed to miss the dates under her contract with MP). Murray Hodgson, co-founder of MP, tells Billboard that they could not have multiple hosts for this specific tour and they told Ginger if she could not reschedule her filming offer, they would have to find a new host for the tour. “We did not want to confuse the fans with rotating hosts on the tour,” he says.
After Ginger’s firing, her husband CeeJay Russell stayed with the production as a crew member. This past week, he returned to Florida for a family emergency (Ginger’s grandmother was hospitalized and passed away Sunday, March 3) and was removed from the production for doing so.
Hodgson insists that Russell was not fired: “[CeeJay] told us he booked a flight and would return on Friday evening. When Friday came and he had not returned or even contacted us to give us an update, we chose to move on without him for this tour. [CeeJay] then went on social media and even admitted that he failed to contact us about returning on the date he had originally confirmed. I personally told [CeeJay] he was “not” fired and we had intentions of using him on upcoming tours, but since he went on social media and trashed us with falsehoods, we have reservations about working with him in the future.”
“After [the situation with CeeJay], I could no longer morally support a company that would fire someone over something like that,” Trinity tells Billboard. “It made me think of my grandmother and what if I was in that situation.” She added that she wishes MP well and hopes “nothing but the best for them.”
Hodgson says that Trinity’s announcement “blindsided” them: “We have absolutely no idea why Trinity quit nor has she or her management team offered any specific reason except to say in an email to us; ‘I am so sorry about this. We will help you find a replacement if you need one,'” he wrote. He said that they “hold her in high regard” and that she recently asked to be host of their upcoming A Drag Queen Christmas production. “We remain hopeful that Trinity honors her contractual obligations with our company when she rejoins the tour next week. We have nothing but love for The Tuck.”
It all began on Friday (March 1), when MP took to Instagram to announce that Monét was cut from the tour: “Sometime during the afternoon, we’re told she received a phone call from @madonna with an offer to be in an upcoming music video. Monet asked MP if it would be ok to leave the tour to accept the offer. We said no because it was too short notice to replace her on Haters. Just hours before the show was to start and without telling anyone including the other queens on the Denver show, Monet left the venue and flew to LA to accept Madonna’s offer. Therefore, we have decided that Monet will no longer be on any upcoming Haters Roast dates,” the post said.
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Less than an hour later, Monét posted to Twitter: “The queens think you’re trash, the fans think you’re trash, and at this point…your reputation precedes ANYTHING I could ever say.” She added, “Also, in my post drag race career…I have only had to reschedule 5 dates, and they were all due to All Stars filming obligations. I LOVE my fans/supporters and try to honor you guys as best as I can.”
Hodgson says that fans are the most important component of MP’s tours. “Without their support, there are no tours. Their guest experience is paramount to our success.”
He also admits that MP has had “unfavorable situations with certain queens” over the years. “We are proud to have excellent business and personal relationships with most of the popular television queens who continually join our tours every year and have a great time with our brand. Unfortunately, there are some queens on social media who are using this opportunity to speak poorly of our company — although they are not even on our tour to know the facts. Therefore they rely on hearsay, false information and social media hysteria and join the hype.”
Trinity and Monét were both declared winners of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4 in the series’ first-ever double crowning last month.
The Haters Roast is an ensemble tour which features Drag Race alumni including Manila Luzon, Latrice Royale, BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon. Darienne Lake was announced as a replacement host for the tour after Ginger was dismissed in January.