H eadlines
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Features ‘Jewish Princess’
NATIONAL SHANNON LEVITT | JE FEATURE
IT WASN’T SUPPOSED to go
that way.

Joey Jay, the 30-year-old
Phoenix-area contestant on
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season
13, unexpectedly found himself
on the chopping block in the
opening moments of the show.

Previous seasons began with
introductions, funny interludes
between contestants, a challenge
and a runway walk. Only then
came elimination. But on Jan.

1, Jay and fellow contestant
Kandy Muse barely had time
for introductions when RuPaul
appeared, saying they would
lip-sync before the judges and
the loser would be eliminated.

“RuPaul is right there and
then you’re lip-syncing for your
life,” said Jay, who describes
his drag persona as a “Jewish
princess.” “It was the scariest
moment of my life.”
Later, in the show’s
individual confessional, Jay
laughed about possible “plot
twists,” though as of press time
it was unclear how the drama
would play out. But Jay’s recent
tweet, “S13 is basically just gay
Saw,” seems ominous.

Joey Jay out of and in drag.
“It was so much and all of us
were so taken by it, but tomor-
row’s a new day,” he explained.

“This is going to be lovely TV.”
Season 13 had other
surprises thanks to COVID-19
— including the show’s 12-day
quarantine. “Twelve days of self-isola-
tion in a hotel room, you kind
of go a little crazy,” Jay said.

Jay’s drag career began
just four years ago — and as a
part-time gig at that. By day, he
Photo courtesy of Joey Jay
worked as an account manager
at an educational software
company in Mesa, Arizona. He
only did drag on Friday nights
because of his work schedule.

“I really value and cherish
sleep,” he said. “It was just really
hard to function efficiently
when the next day I had to sell.”
But the job was always a
means to an end — to save money
for a condo and mark time while
building a drag career.

He started auditioning for
Fol low The
And Never Miss A Stor y!
www.jewishexponent.com #jewishinphilly
facebook.com/jewishexponent 12
JANUARY 14, 2021
twitter.com/jewishexponent JEWISH EXPONENT
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” just a
month after starting drag.

“Let me tell you, the audition
process is very lengthy and it takes
a lot of time and long days — very
stressful, long days,” Jay said.

His first two attempts
weren’t successful, and he
hopes no one ever sees his first
audition tape: “If it surfaces, it’s
not good,” he said jokingly.

But the third time was the
charm. Winning a coveted
place on the show so quickly
isn’t the only unique thing
about Jay’s drag career. For one,
his drag name is rather low-key.

Born Joey Jadryev, he didn’t
feel a more flamboyant name
would suit him. For another,
Jay usually sports his own short
hair rather than an elaborate
wig, which is more the norm in
the drag community.

His “boy hair” has drawn
ire from other drag queens, but
it’s something he feels strongly
about — and a topic he was
planning to address on the show
after his runway appearance.

But he wasn’t expecting to be in
front of the judges right away.

Depending on how things play
out, he realizes “my plan could
definitely go down the drain.”
Talking honestly and
publicly about things that
matter comes naturally to Jay:
His social media accounts are
full of support for causes like
Black Lives Matter.

“When you get in drag you
are a political statement — you’re
not just in drag to put a wig
on,” he said. “It’s your duty to
educate people about Stonewall
and Marsha P. Johnson.”
Given that many of the
show’s fans are young and
impressionable, Jay said he
feels a responsibility to provide
a perspective they might not
otherwise get.

“Who knows what their
parents are telling them or
what their parents stand for,
but I know equality is right,” he
said. “I’m a humanitarian and
it’s just so important for these
kids to know what’s right and
wrong.” People in the Phoenix area
are proud of Jay’s success.

“I’ve been watching ‘Drag
Race’ for years,” said Deb
Behrendt, one of the chairs of AZ
Jews for Pride. “I am proud that
Joey Jay hails from Phoenix and
is Jewish. I just feel like a proud
mom watching Joey Jay slay!”
Behrendt’s co-chair, Cantor
Ross Wolman of Temple Chai,
appreciates that Jay has chosen
to highlight Jewish identity.

That identity is very
important to Jay, whose family in
Los Angeles is “very Jewish,” he
said. “Whenever I go visit them,
we’re just throwing Yiddish
at each other all day long and
laughing and it’s so fun.” Jay
was very close to his late grand-
mother, an Orthodox Jew, and
attended virtual services at his
mother’s synagogue for the High
Holidays last year. “It’s really nice
because a lot of people have their
preferred pronouns and it’s very
LGBT-friendly,” he said.

One regret, however, is
missing out on a bar mitzvah.

Growing up, Jay was a compet-
itive figure skater and the
family couldn’t afford both
ice skating and a bar mitzvah.

Jay’s grandmother advised that
a bar mitzvah could be put off,
but there was an expiration
date on ice skating.

Even though Jay is “more
lax” religiously than his grand-
mother, missing out on a bar
mitzvah still rankles.

“To this day, I have not had a
chance to get my bar mitzvah,”
he said. “But it’s on my bucket
list because I know if I don’t
I’m going to have guilt for all
eternity for my grandmother.”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” airs
Fridays at 8 p.m. on The CW
Network, MTV, MTV2, PopTV
and Logo. l
Shannon Levitt is the managing
editor of Jewish News in Phoenix,
an affiliated publication of the
Jewish Exponent.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM