A DRAG RACE ALL STARS CONTESTANT RIPPED NIKKI GLASER OFF, AND FANS ARE NOT HAPPY
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- Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars accused Gottmik of plagiarizing Nikki Glaser's jokes after the Drag Convention Roast episode.
- Gottmik faced social media backlash for "borrowing" jokes, and then for responding in an unrepentant manner.
- The issue of joke theft is frowned upon in stand-up comedy, and the RPDR fandom is still enraged.
The RuPaul's Drag Race fandom has been throwing non-stop shade at Gottmik (real name Kade Gottlieb) since the National Drag Convention Roast episode aired on June 14th — and this messy backlash is still going.
Reality TV competition shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 9 are dramatic by nature, and roasts are typically controversial — but RPDG All Stars contestant Gottmik earned the ire of fans for an unusual transgression.
Of course, fans of All Stars specifically tune in for drama, and it's normally not an unwelcome aspect of the show.
Comedian Nikki Glaser is famous in part for her skill at celebrity roasts, and fans of All Stars converged on social media after the National Drag Convention Roast episode, claiming that Gottmik shamelessly boosted Nikki's jokes.
A week has passed, fans are still not over it, and debates continue raging across social media. Here's what's happened so far.
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What Happened At The RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Roast
The National Drag Convention Roast episode of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars first aired on June 14th, as the sixth episode of the ninth season.
The set for the roast was styled like a political debate stage, and on June 16th, the segment was uploaded to the official RPDG YouTube channel:
As is often the case, fans participated in live commentary on social media, and at first, they were focused on the roast itself.
One recapper opined that Gottmik's roast set was lackluster, describing it as "a disappointment after her strong roast performance in Season 13" and making a brief reference to the alleged "plagiarism."
From there, the little flicker of an accusation quickly became a roaring inferno of social media backlash.
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Angry Fans Accused Gottmik Of Plagiarizing Nikki Glaser
Across social media, fans swiftly dug up receipts to support their claim that Gottmik had "plagiarized" Nikki Glaser's jokes.
On June 14th, the same day the episode first aired, a Reddit post titled "If you think Gottmik’s roast sounds familiar …" was shared on the RPDG subreddit.
A pinned comment at the top further accused Gottmik of stealing jokes from comic Lisa Lampanelli's 2015 set at the roast of David Hasselhoff.
A short video attached to the post made a strong case for claims that Gottmik ripped Nikki Glaser off, contrasting individual jokes side by side (containing a single instance of profanity):
As fan chatter spiked, Gottmik quickly chimed in on X (formerly Twitter), acknowledging the claims and attempting to explain them away.
Gottmik's response would perhaps be deemed an "apolo-lie" by Drag Race fans, as it looked as if she tried to minimize and downplay the accusations in a decidedly unrepentant manner, tweeting:
Wait do you guys think everyone wrote their jokes!? loll
Nikki is my queen so reworking a few of her jokes was a DUH for me love her[.]
Yes, Gottmik dealt with the controversy by playing the accusations off, insinuating that fans were naive about the workings of reality TV.
Unsurprisingly, the RPDR fandom got even angrier about the whole thing.
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Gottmik's Response, And Why 'Borrowing' Jokes Is Such A Big Deal
On June 17th, a fan posted to the RuPaul's Drag Race subreddit, suggesting that without social media sleuthing, the alleged theft of jokes from Nikki Glaser would have gone undetected.
That user said they were "no longer rooting" for Gottmik to win, and several fans agreed with the sentiment. Many bristled at Gottmik's use of the word "reworking" in her apolo-lie.
Gottmik's alleged use of Nikki's jokes didn't happen in a vacuum — in stand-up comedy, "joke theft" has always been deeply frowned upon.
A Redditor said that the use of Glaser's jokes would have gone unnoticed without social media ... and the topic of joke theft has become somewhat more mainstream in recent years for that precise reason.
In fact, comedic plagiarism (or joke theft) was one of the many hot button topics addressed when Katt Williams did his explosive Club Shay Shay interview in January — but due to the sheer amount of tea Katt spilled, it didn't draw too much attention.
During the episode, Katt accused Cedric The Entertainer of stealing jokes. On January 11th, The Hollywood Reporter published a piece about joke theft in the modern history of stand-up, noting that the practice is "taboo," and the consequences severe.
THR pointed to once-prominent comic Dane Cook's purported theft of jokes from Louis CK, explaining:
"Dane Cook, who purportedly stole several jokes from Louis C.K. during the late aughts, wasn’t able to recover from the scandal, even after an awkward appearance on C.K.’s FX series Louie in 2011.
"Though he was one of the few comics to sell out Madison Square Garden and once had a huge social media following, today Cook tours just sporadically and is vying to become the 'king of Threads.'"
As it stands, Gottmik has yet to sincerely apologize, and Nikki Glaser hasn't acknowledged the controversy.
2024-06-23T09:14:38Z dg43tfdfdgfd