The “reading is fundamental” jokes write themselves with this story.
RuPaul has shared a lot about his life and his philosophies in interviews, on TV, and even in past books, but now he’s getting ready to put it all out there in even greater detail.
The Emmy and Tony winner has announced his definitive memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, slated to drop early next year.
The TV star took to Instagram to announce the book, revealing the exciting project via a video that sees him speaking to the camera without any makeup or fantasy lighting, perhaps mimicking how raw he’ll be in the tell-all.
“After two and a half years, it’s finally here: My memoir,” the host stated in the short clip, adding that he is both “so excited and so anxious at the same time, because I really reveal so much of myself. You know, this world today. It feels so hostile and such a scary place to be vulnerable in. But I did it, so get ready.”
RuPaul had some fun talking about the memoir in the video’s caption. “Writing this book left me gooped, gagged and stripped raw,” he wrote.
The queen of all drag queens also opined that “I’ve learned that vulnerability is strength, but so far, all I feel is nervous as hell, yet super excited to share it with y’all. When all is said and done, it’s just me, Ru.”
“RuPaul strips away all artifice and recounts the story of his life with breathtaking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography,” reads a synopsis of the book. “From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his life-story, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history.”
One very important topic is missing from that description: the TV show that catapulted him to superstardom, taking him from the gay world to the main stage at the Emmys and beyond.
Apparently, The House of Hidden Meanings only focuses on the first several decades of RuPaul’s life and career, and it stops before he launches RuPaul’s Drag Race. This is an odd choice, and one that fans buying a copy should be aware of.
The House of Hidden Meanings is expected to be released on March 4, 2024 through HarperCollins.
The title will be RuPaul’s fourth book, following Lettin It All Hang Out: An Autobiography; Workin’ It! RuPaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style; and GuRu.
"There is a lot happening." David Archuleta is reading through the lineup of artists set to perform at the two-day WorldPride Music Festival in Washington, D.C. His eyes light up as he peruses the list, certain names producing a silent gasp of excitement, though I can't tell whose from my side of our video call.
"My friend Ty Sunderland is DJing," he says, still reading. Sporting a white tank and well-groomed stubble, much as he does in the sweetly queer video for hit "Crème Brulée," the teen idol-turned-pop prince seems to be searching for one name, in particular. "Isn't Trisha Paytas performing as well?"
New York PBS affiliate WNET has removed three educational episodes addressing transgender identity and drag expression from its archives, following threats from congressional conservatives and the Trump administration to defund public broadcasting.
One targeted program was a 2021 episode of the educational series Let’s Learn, titled “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish.” The episode featured drag queen and children’s author Lil Miss Hot Mess reading from her book of the same name—a playful take on the classic nursery rhyme “The Wheels on the Bus.”
"My focus is on what the truth is," says Eugene Daniels. "And if people don't like the truth, that's their issue, because I'm never going to shy away from holding powerful people accountable. I'm never going to shy away from telling stories about people who can't tell them themselves. That's the goal."
A former Politico correspondent and the current president of the White House Correspondents' Association, the journalist was recently tapped by MSNBC to serve as a co-host -- alongside Jonathan Capehart and Jackie Alemany -- for The Weekend, the cable news outlet's Saturday and Sunday morning show. The program will provide an opportunity to look beyond what Daniels calls the "shiny objects" in the news cycle and provide viewers with information relevant to their lives.
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