Former MAFS groom Dean Wells has been dropped by his management agency after posting homophobic misinformation on the internet.
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 Drag Queen Story Time will feature stories and songs celebrating family, love, and being yourself,” the event flyer read. ‘The Story Time will be followed by a creative craft for attendees to keep. Suitable for children aged 3+.”
The doctored photo that Wells 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.
In the rant that accompanied the now-deleted post, Wells said: “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.”
Wells – who had no children of his own – 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”.
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It isn’t the first time Wells’ concern for taxpayer dollars has drawn attention. Wells slammed the ABC’s NYE event and was promptly dragged by comedian and RPDR Down Under host Rhys Nicholson.
“Happy New Year Dean! I don’t know who you are either but great neck-to-head ratio! Congrats [sic]!” Nicholson wrote.
This time around, RPDR Down Under star Beverly Kills shared screenshots of the messages she received from Wells on Twitter, along with the caption, “Flop behaviour I won’t have it!!!!”
Flop behaviour I won’t have it!!!! pic.twitter.com/j50xGoA8PJ
— Beverly Kills 🔪 (@thebeverlykills) February 10, 2023
Charisma Belle, the host of the drag story time event Dean chose to ridicule, also responded with her own Insta post.
In it, she referred to him as “another straight man telling people how to behave and dissecting a community they have had very limited experience with”.
“You purposely went through my Instagram page to find the most ‘sexual’ picture you could, to mock up a fake ad for the event,” said said. “You purposely misrepresented the situation and misguided your followers.”
Following the backlash, Wells’ management agency Stage Addiction – which also manages Abbie Chatfield, Angie Kent and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under contestant Art Simone – promptly dropped him.
“As a queer-owned business, Stage Addiction has always and will always celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community,” they said in a short but sweet statement.
“The deeply hurtful comments made today by Dean Wells do not align with our values and as such we have parted ways.”
Wells appeared on Season 5 of MAFS, as well as Channel 10’s Dancing With The Stars in 2020. His Instagram profile now says he is “under new management”.
