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RuPaul's Drag Race Canada star Rita Baga has once again addressed her history of doing 'blackface' during her performances.
The Montreal queen, 35, has been called out for dressing in blackface to play actress Amber Riley's character, Mercedes Jones, from Glee during an old performance.
Blackface refers to the racist practice of a non-Black person wearing dark makeup, often to mock the features of Black people.
Baga first addressed the controversy in 2020, but on Sunday, she posted another lengthy note to her social media, explaining she deeply regretted her choice.
"Bonjour! I saw a lot of things online recently about me and problematic things I've done in the past. I have make stupid and hurtful mistakes, a long time ago, that I still regret. Deeply," Baga wrote on Twitter.
— Rita Baga (@ritabagaz) November 6, 2022
"For those of you who didn't know before, I apologize again. I can't undo what I've done as a young, privileged and unaware queen."
She posted: "In 2020 I have " exposed " myself, as you can see below. I still own and mean what I wrote back then. And I am still ashamed."
Baga tweeted: "I don't know if writing this post is the right thing to do. But I want to be transparent and honest. I've been vocal about this numerous times, and informed people about it too."
The Canadian queen then went on to slam fans who criticized others for holding her to account for her past actions.
"Seeing that people who " called out " these big mistakes have been criticized and bullied makes absolutely no sense to me. I respect my sisters. And I will never endorse bullying," she wrote.
Baga added that she wanted to uplift people in her community and aimed to be a caring queen.
"I am full of love. I don't like drama at all (you may remember it from my season) and avoid confrontation in general," she wrote.
The queen also sent a message to the Montreal drag community to support better its QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) members.
Fans in the comments were divided about the apology, with some saying Baga did not need to apologize again after doing so in 2020.
But others posted it was up to QTBIPOC people in Canada to decide if they accepted her apology or not.
"All the white people in the comments, especially us white non Canadians, need to stop. It's the black fans, especially black fans from Canada, who get to decide if Rita has taken accountability in an appropriate manner. I'm waiting to hear what they say," commented one fan.
A second added: "Respect. Like you said you can take back the hurt it caused, however you can learn and grow to be better. The fact that you took the steps to start re-educating yourself, is a massive first step. Keep learning and keep being your fabulous self."
A third wrote: "It's important that for everyone commenting that if your not black then it's not your place to accept her apology."
Baga made it to the finals of Drag Race Canada's first season, but the crown was eventually awarded to Priyanka.
The drag queen has been named the host of Drag Race Belgium and will soon compete on Canada's Drag Race: Canada Vs the World, which premieres on November 18.
Newsweek reached out to Rita Baga for comment.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more