'Canada's Drag Race' queens speak out against cyberbullying

The queens of Canada's Drag Race are reminding fans that bullying—cyber or otherwise—has no place in a culture and fandom built on inclusion and the celebration of individuality. Several competitors have spoken out on social media after comments, especially on Twitter, attacked the show's judges in ways that didn't sit right with them.Recently eliminated queen Lemon asked fans to "please stop responding to hateful comments" and advised everyone to ignore the attention-seeking trolls.

fighting them and giving them attention adds fire to the flame and just gives them what they want. FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE. if you are spouting hate on the internet clearly u have some demons, please take yourself to therapy and talk to someone abt why you’re so unfulfilled

— lemon (@thatbitchlemon) August 25, 2020

Juice Boxx (who has changed her display name to include "#BlackLivesMatter") tweeted, "Only love for all the judges and the entire cast and crew on this page. Some of you are super f--king toxic and it’s not passing my vibe check. JBC and The dolls deserve nothing but love right now. 2020 has been hard enough let’s not add cyber bullying."

Only cyber bully nazis and racists

— Juice Boxx #BlackLivesMatter (@JuiceBoxxQueen) August 24, 2020

One of the judges, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, best known for his role on UnREAL, deleted his Twitter earlier this week, allegedly a result of mounting online attacks and criticism for his judging style on CDR. Some fans showed their disagreement with his critiques through what turned into cyberbullying and harassment.Shortly after Bowyer-Chapman deleted his account, Drag Race U.K. queen and Canada's Drag Race guest star Crystal called out the abuse, specifically pointing out that the judge who was "bullied off Twitter" happens to also be Black and queer. CDR queen Priyanka added that while everyone has their own judgments, "for a show that celebrates the LGBTQ2S+ community, we have to keep this home safe."

So the black queer judge on Canada’s Drag Race gets bullied off twitter. Ya’ll happy?

— Crystal | Black Lives Matter (@crystalwillseeu) August 23, 2020

It’s a pile on. And it’s racist.

And for what? Clout?Bet you would have loved a good old fashioned public stoning.— Crystal | Black Lives Matter (@crystalwillseeu) August 23, 2020

Honestly- search his name and just look at the endless endless nasty tweets. It’s so depressing. Are you contributing to this?

Wild idea, but maybe put that energy into someone who’s actually done something ... bad?— Crystal | Black Lives Matter (@crystalwillseeu) August 23, 2020

I love all my sisters! This is an incredible journey and we love the fans and the support and are grateful for the opportunity to celebrate our DRAG! Please be kind to each other and us and rest assured that everyone wins in the multiverse so relax!

— Jimbo (@jimbodragclown) August 24, 2020

hi fans, stans and dolls...

stop being mean to the judges, to us queens and to each other. i know, it's a TV show and we all have something to say. But for a show that celebrates the LGBTQ2S+ community, we have to keep this home safe. #CanadasDragRace https://t.co/qVENz0wUJc— hi it’s me priyanka (@thequeenpri) August 25, 2020

Scarlett BoBo shared the same sentiments and reminded fans that she and all the other queens signed up to be judged—that's a large part of the show as anyone who's watched the popular Drag Race franchise can attest to. Scarlett also revealed that for all the criticism Jeffrey, and other judges Brooke Lynn Hytes and Stacey McKenzie, dished out on the show (AKA: their jobs), he was also the place to go for an invigorating chat."Pep talks EVERY F--KING WEEK," she tweeted. "I would look forward to the JBC pep talks because he made us feel special, powerful, and important. He gave us the best pep talks ever. This experience was amazing for all of us."

One more thing. Y’all coming for JBC from @canadasdragrace is honestly too much. IT’S A DAMN TV SHOW! We signed up to be judged. @StaceyMcKenzie1 @Bhytes1 and JBC DID THEIR JOB! JBC was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and gave the most amazing 1/1

— Scarlett BoBo (@ItsScarlettBobo) August 24, 2020

Cast and the incredible judges we had on the show. This was a wonderful experience for each of us and we did this for you, the audience and the fans. We need to start spreading love and not hate. PLEASE stop this the hate messages. PLEASE. Let’s share some positivity PLEASE.

— Scarlett BoBo (@ItsScarlettBobo) August 24, 2020

Ilona Verley retweeted several of her fellow competitors' messages and specifically called out anyone hating on Rita Baga (Rita won out over Lemon in the lip-sync elimination last week), reminding fans that words said online can create real pain and revealed that she ended up in the hospital due to self-harm after receiving an onslaught of online hate but she's now in a better mental space.

Follow up on my tweet from this morning, I’m fine & currently in a really good head space! It’s really crazy how seriously people take something they haven’t been through. The journey of being on reality tv is so unique. I don’t think I could ever fully explain it.

— Ilona Verley (@IlonaVerley) August 25, 2020

In a statement issued by Crave, the streaming service reinforced that there's no place for hate in the community.“The popularity of Canada's Drag Race speaks volumes to the immense talent of our Queens and phenomenal judges, and we couldn’t be more proud of them. Available in more than 160 countries around the world, Canada's Drag Race has an international fan base, and it’s unfortunate that some people have let their passion cross the boundary into harassment by posting hateful comments about our Queens and Judges online. There is no place for hate in the Drag Race community, or anywhere. Our show encourages inclusivity and acceptance of all people, and we hope that viewers who haven’t shared in that spirit, will respect that message.”Canada's Drag Race airs Thursdays at 9pET on Crave.[video_embed id='2019838']RELATED: Lemon says ‘Canada’s Drag Race’ taught her we all have stardom inside of us [/video_embed]