RuPaul’s Drag Race star Sherry Pie is apologizing on Thursday after five actors have come forward and accusing him of catfishing them.
Sherry Pie, a 28 year old from New York who was born Joey Gugliemelli, posed as a casting director, leading to the actors submitting audition tapes of them doing degrading things, according to Buzzfeed.
Shortly after the story broke on Thursday, Sherry Pie took to Facebook to apologize for her behavior in an emotional statement.
Sherry Pie: RuPaul’s Drag Race star Sherry Pie is apologizing on Thursday after five actors have come forward and accusing him of catfishing them
Five actors came forward, some who were his classmates at SUNY Cortland in New York, with others from a Nebraska theater company he worked at.
One of the actors coming forward was 26-year-old David Newman, who new Gugliemelli from Cortland and filmed scenes in 2015 while wearing a tanktop and shorts for a fake musical A Nightmare Before Christmas he was told Tim Burton was working on.
‘I just felt really stupid. I felt really dumb,’ Newman said. ‘Everyone does bad stuff but he never apologized.’
Coming forward: Five actors came forward, some who were his classmates at SUNY Cortland in New York, with others from a Nebraska theater company he worked at
‘He has a national audience watching him now and people have to know what he did. He did it to a lot of people,’ Cortland added.
The allegations first surfaced in a Facebook post by another Cortland alum, Ben Shimkus, that went viral, where he claimed Gugliemelli posed as a fake casting director named Allison Mossie, who did not actually exist.
He was asked to take videos to audition for a character named Bulk, where he pretended to take steroids and enjoy smelling his armpits.
Allegations: The allegations first surfaced in a Facebook post by another Cortland alum, Ben Shimkus, that went viral, where he claimed Gugliemelli posed as a fake casting director named Allison Mossie, who did not actually exist
‘I remember feeling kind of embarrassed about what I was recording, Shimkus told Buzzfeed. ‘I would record entirely by myself and do it in my off-campus house exclusively when I was alone. It was very damaging to me at the time.’
Another actor, 23-year-old Josh Lillyman, started working with Sherry Pie at the Crane River Theater in Kearney, Nebraska.
Sherry Pie told him he was working for a casting agent in New York for an HBO show called Bulk, which lead to an audition process where Sherry Pie suggested he masturbated to get the character right.
Theater: Another actor, 23-year-old Josh Lillyman, started working with Sherry Pie at the Crane River Theater in Kearney, Nebraska
Shortly after the allegations surfaced, the drag queen issued an apology via Facebook.
‘This is Joey, I want to start by saying how sorry I am that I caused such trauma and pain and how horribly embarrassed and disgusted I am with myself. I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel,’ Sherry Pie began.
‘Until being on RuPaul’s Drag Race, I never really understood how much my mental health and taking care of things meant. I learned on that show how important “loving yourself” is and I don’t think I have ever loved myself,’ he added.
‘I have been seeking help and receiving treatment since coming back to NYC. I truly apologize to everyone I have hurt with my actions. I also want to say how sorry I am to my sisters of season 12 and honestly the whole network and production company. All I can do is change the behavior and that starts with me and doing that work,’ he concluded.
Apology: Shortly after the allegations surfaced, the drag queen issued an apology via Facebook