Drag queen in hot water

HIV charity the Luncheon Club will not use drag queen Cruella DeVille for any of its fundraising activities again, after it deemed one of the performer’s jokes inappropriate.

DeVille was collecting money for the Luncheon Club at the Oxford Hotel on Thursday last week when she told a joke about the death of three human fetuses from different races and the discriminatory way they were treated by God when they arrived in heaven.

Luncheon Club president Carole Ann King said she had received two complaints from hotel punters about Cruella’s performance. Other complaints had been forwarded on to ACON.

King said the Luncheon Club did not in any way condone this behaviour, and would not use DeVille for any functions again.

DeVille told the Star she didn’t intend to cause offence and said she ran the joke by black patrons at the hotel before saying it.

I don’t go out of my way to offend or hurt or upset people or cause people problems. It doesn’t achieve anything, DeVille said.

All they would have to do is come talk to me and I wouldn’t have had a problem apologising if I offended people.

I don’t claim to be perfect or to know everything and people do make mistakes. If they’re not willing to give me the opportunity to rectify the problem, then how can I do anything about it?

The Oxford’s general manager Brent Tozer said he did not want to comment on the matter because he was not there when the incident happened.

If it’s true I’ll be having a word to Cruella. But I would like to think it wasn’t the case, he said.