MAFS alum Dean Wells has finally broken his silence after he was dropped from his management for posting alleged homophobic misinformation on the internet.
Last week, the reality star came under fire when he shared a Photoshopped flyer to Instagram advertising a Drag Queen Story Time performance by Sydney drag queen Charisma Belle at Manly Library for children as young as three.
The doctored photo that Dean shared featured an image of the drag queen spreading her legs in a “vulgar” way with a taco in her crotch, according to the Daily Mail, who republished the photograph in a screenshot.
He accompanied the now-deleted post, with the caption: “Our tax dollars are being used to fund a thing called ‘Drag Queen Story Time’ where drag queens go to our libraries and schools and are paid to read to kids as young as three, usually about gender identity and from an extremist left wing perspective.”
Dean added, “I honestly do not get what the cultural benefit of this is and think it is sending confusing messages to kids.”
He also claimed that “being a drag queen is inherently sexual” and that some have “serious mental disorders that need to be dealt with”.
Shortly after Dean shared the post, he was dropped by Stage Addiction – which also manages Abbie Chatfield, Angie Kent and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under contestant Art Simone.
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“The deeply hurtful comments made today by Dean Wells do not align with our values and as such we have parted ways,” his former management said in a statement.
Now, Dean has doubled down on his statement, claiming that he’s in “no way” homophobic, and defended her choice to share the photo.
“In no way am I transphobic, homophobic or hateful,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
The statement continued, “My post was about one thing. Is it appropriate for three-year-old kids to be exposed to advanced gender and sexual ideologies? I would personally think around the age of 12 is more suitable for that kind of thing.”
“I was curious to know what other people thought. After all this is a taxpayer-funded event in my neighborhood, I think I have the right to ask that question,’ added the Manly-based creative agency executive.”
The season five MAFS star said that he didn’t know if the drag queen he posted, Charisma Belle, was a member of the LGBTQ2S+ community.
“I had no idea of the drag queen’s sexuality. Are all drag queens even gay? I don’t know. I’m pretty sure they are not. I didn’t even talk about that in my post. So the accusations of me being transphobic or homophobic are just plain false,’ he said.
Dean also defended the photo he shared, saying that he simply popped two different photos together and posted them to Instagram.
I did not “doctor” any photo or attempt to mislead anyone. I took an image of the drag queen in question, that he himself posted to his Instagram, and put it next to the Manly libraries website post to show people who the drag queen is,” he said.
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