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Crystal (drag queen)

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Crystal
Crystal at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2024
Born
Colin Munro Seymour

(1985-11-01) November 1, 1985 (age 39)
Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
OccupationDrag queen
FamilySusan Goyette (stepmother)
Websitecrystalwillseeyounow.com

Crystal is the stage name of Colin Munro Seymour[1] (born November 1, 1985),[2] a Canadian-British drag queen, TV host and personality best known as a competitor in the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.[3]

Early life

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Born in Newfoundland and raised in Nova Scotia,[3] Munro is the stepson of poet Susan Goyette.[4]

Munro attended university for costume design, as mentioned in his podcast.[citation needed]

Career

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Munro moved to London, England in the late 2000s, initially to work as an aerial performer in the circus, before expanding into drag performance.[5] He initially went by the drag name Crystal Beth, a pun on crystal meth, but changed his drag name to just Crystal before appearing on Drag Race UK on the grounds that he did not want to be perceived as making fun of the serious issue of drug addiction.[6] Munro has also stated that he always wanted to be known as just Crystal, and initially chose the longer name only because when he was new to drag he thought there was a rule that drag queens always had to have two names rather than one.[6] In London's drag scene, Crystal was best known for Mariah and Friendz, a regular drag night inspired by Mariah Carey and, in Crystal's own words, "bringing in touches of delusion, bad fashion and lip-sync malfunctions."[7]

Crystal finished in sixth place on Drag Race UK, being eliminated in the "Girl Group Battle Royale" challenge, after losing a lip-sync to eventual winner The Vivienne.[8]

Following Drag Race UK, Crystal appeared as a special guest in the "Star Sixty-Nine" episode of Canada's Drag Race, playing the caller to a psychic hotline in a minichallenge where the competing queens had to do improv comedy as the psychics.[9] She was subsequently announced as the host of Group Sext, a social distancing-themed LGBTQ dating reality show, for OutTV,[10] and as a drag mentor in the competition series Call Me Mother.[11]

In 2024 she is slated to host the second season of the drag design competition series Sew Fierce.[12]

Controversy Over Pride Event

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On July 17 2023, Adventure Island theme park decided not to host future Pride events after a controversial performance by Crystal. He expressed disappointment, accusing corporations of exploiting Pride for profit. Crystal defended the act, involving an angle grinder, stating it was similar to performances on shows like Britain's Got Talent or by pop stars like Lady Gaga. However, theme park owner Philip Miller cited confusion over acceptable content and emphasized the park's family-friendly focus. Miller apologized for any offense caused and announced the park's decision not to participate in future Pride celebrations.[13]

Defamation lawsuit

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In October 2020, right-wing political activist Laurence Fox made a series of tweets in which he accused Crystal and Simon Blake, deputy chair of the LGBT rights charity Stonewall, both gay men, of being paedophiles.[14] Fox's comments were criticised for their "homophobic connotations" linked to the far-right LGBT grooming conspiracy theory.[15][16]

In April 2021, Crystal and Blake lodged a claim for defamation in the High Court and were joined in the legal action by actress Nicola Thorp, whom Fox also called a paedophile.[17]

In May 2022, Fox was ordered to pay £36,000 legal fees to Crystal, Blake and Thorp after he attempted to secure a jury trial claiming that "a judge could show involuntary bias", however his request was denied.[18]

In August 2023, Justice Nicklin found that Fox's tweets would be viewed as factual statements that would have been understood to mean each of the three "was a paedophile". Fox appealed the rule by Justice Nicklin.[19]

In January 2024, Justice Collins Rice ruled that Fox had defamed Crystal and Simon Blake.[20] On 25 April 2024, it was announced that Fox would have to pay a total of £180,000 in compensatory damages to Crystal and Blake.[21]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2019 RuPaul's Drag Race UK Herself Contestant; series 1
2020 Canada's Drag Race Herself Guest in episode "Star Sixty-Nine" [9]
2020 Group Sext Herself Host [10]
2021 Celebrity Karaoke Club Drag Edition Herself Contestant [22]
2021–present Call Me Mother Herself Drag mother [11]

References

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  1. ^ Goldapple, Lisa (14 June 2022). "THE REVOLUTION WILL BE CRYSTALISED". worldoftopia.com. TOPIA. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ @crystalwillseeu (1 November 2021). "It's my birthday! Two years ago today I was eliminated on Drag Race UK in 6th place. 1 year ago I was wondering if my newly accelerated career would survive the Panny D. TODAY the second episode of my new TV show comes out!☺️ We love a journey! #CallMeMother" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b Cameron Perrier, "‘We’re here to shake things up’: Crystal brings Canadian roots to Drag Race UK" Archived 22 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Xtra!, 18 October 2019.
  4. ^ Morgan Mullin, "Former Haligonian announced as competitor on the first-ever UK edition of RuPaul's Drag Race" Archived 12 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine. The Coast, 15 August 2019.
  5. ^ Thomas Ling, "Who is Crystal? Meet the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK queen from Canada" Archived 8 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Radio Times, 21 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b Charlie Jones, "Drag Race UK’s Crystal on changing her name, Brexit and why she doesn’t trust the Lib Dems" Archived 7 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine. PinkNews, 1 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Interview: Crystal Beth" Archived 6 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine. QX, 8 June 2017.
  8. ^ Emma Kelly, "Drag Race UK’s Crystal is as baffled as you by Geri Horner’s ‘Stepford Wife’ appearance" Archived 6 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Metro, 1 November 2019.
  9. ^ a b Kevin O'Keeffe, "‘Canada’s Drag Race’ Episode 6 recap: Sissy that walk" Archived 25 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Xtra!, 6 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b Lauren Malyk, "OUTtv greenlights lockdown-produced pilot" Archived 5 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Playback, 20 August 2020.
  11. ^ a b West, Rachel (2 June 2021). "OUTtv Announces New Drag Reality Series 'Call Me Mother' Hosted By ET Canada Pride's Dallas Dixon". ET Canada. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. ^ Kelly Townsend, "OUTtv renews drag design competition series Sew Fierce". Playback, September 1, 2023.
  13. ^ "Southend Adventure Island says Pride 'not for us' over drag act". BBC News. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  14. ^ Kent, Sara-Aisha (4 October 2020). "Laurence Fox calls a number of people 'paedophiles' in bizarre Twitter rant". The Mirror. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Laurence Fox tried to 'whip up mob of bigots', Drag Race star tells High Court". The Independent. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Drag Race UK star Crystal suing Laurence Fox". BBC News. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Laurence Fox sued by RuPaul's Drag Race star, Coronation Street actress, and charity boss over 'paedophile' comments". Sky News. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  18. ^ Chudy, Emily (27 May 2022). "Laurence Fox ordered to pay £36,000 legal fees in Drag Race queen libel battle". PinkNews. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  19. ^ Farmer, Brian (25 August 2023). "Actor Laurence Fox scores victory in latest pre-trial stage of libel fight". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  20. ^ Weaver, Matthew (29 January 2024). "Laurence Fox loses libel battle with Twitter users he called paedophiles". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Laurence Fox told to pay £180,000 in libel damages". BBC News. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Celebrity Karaoke Club returns to ITV2 this year along with drag spin-off series". itv.com. 7 May 2021. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
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