By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-10-08 17:06:52 | Updated at 2026-10-08 20:22:52
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The owners of a Pittsburgh gay bar received death threats after a drag performer went on stage in blackface in an attempt to pay tribute to the late actor Tim Curry that went horribly wrong.
Blue Moon Bar, the self-described “Friendliest Gay Bar in Pittsburgh,” canceled a slew of performances after posts went viral showing a drag queen donning what looked like racist blackface during a Sept. 23 stage event.
The performer was reportedly trying to portray Hexxus from 1992’s animated movie “FernGully: The Last Rainforest” as a tribute to Curry, who voiced the character.
But the performance caused an eruption of outrage when images of the act went viral and critics denounced the dark make up as far too similar to racist blackface that the bar should have banned.
“How this person was even allowed to step on stage wearing this is beyond me,” fellow drag performer Pinapple Honeydew wrote in an Instagram post.
“This is actual disgusting, racist behavior being given a stage to perform and no one thinking twice about it.”
Honeydew said it was a poor way to honor Curry, an icon to the LGBTQ+ community who died in August.
“What happened to just wearing a black outfit,” the performer fumed. “Out of all of Tim Curry’s iconic characters, you HAD to do this one??
“And you HAD to do blackface in order to portray a character no one was going to recongize anyway???,” the drag artist continued. “F–king insane.”
The bar issued a groveling apology on Facebook nearly a week later on Sept. 29, writing, “We were just made aware yesterday that this happened last week.”
Blue Room Bar management said they were not on site to witness the performance, and rather two guest hosts who don’t usually man the open stage ran the event — but insisted they were “horrified” and “blindsided” by it.
The post explained the two guest hosts “somehow didn’t realize at the time what was happening” while adding they “aren’t excusing their behavior.”
“Whatever the intent, blackface is racist and harmful and it is never acceptable. We are sorry that it happened in our bar.”
The bar also apologized to “anyone who has been offended or triggered by pictures shared of this performance or to anyone who unfortunately witnessed it.”
Blue Moon Bar was forced to cancel last week’s open stage because “the bar and tonight’s host have received too many death threats for us to feel comfortable putting on the show this evening,” the bar wrote in a subsequent post on Facebook on Sept. 30.
Management also hung a sign to the performer’s dressing room that read: “Absolutely NO Preformances Based on Race, Ethicity, or Nationality (that is not your own) Will Be TOLERATED!!!”
The unidentified performer said, “My attempt for accuracy in a cosplay caused an egregious error that resulted in harm to a community I love and care for,” in a statement to QBurgh.
The drag artist added they “want to be held accountable” and “want to make good on my efforts to right this wrong” and apologized “for the harm caused to the community, the hosts, and the patrons.”
“Intent does not matter when it comes to the effects of what’s been done,” the performer told the publication.
Management at the bar did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
It comes just weeks after an LGBT venue was at the center of another storm in a teacup, when Last Ditch, a lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts, briefly became the most notorious bar in America.
The struggling bar’s owners scrapped their longstanding COVID mask requirements for just one night in a week in an attempt to boost business, the Boston Globe reported.
But the move brought out extreme reactions among some members of the local LGBT community, with critics dramatically calling it a “mass disabling event” or even a “eugenicist” attack.
Another said they hoped the bar got “firebombed” for the crime of trying to keep the lights on.
