Ru Paul's Drag Race contestant causes mass outrage with 'disgusting' Lindy Chamberlain skit

Sydney contestant on Ru Paul's Drag Race, Etcetera Etcetera, has come under fire for impersonating Lindy Chamberlain. Photo / Supplied

One of the stars of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under has come under fire for impersonating Lindy Chamberlain – complete with a blood-soaked dingo puppet – for a comedy segment on the show.

Chamberlain's name began trending on Twitter over the weekend after the newest episode of Drag Race Down Under aired, due to Sydney queen Etcetera Etcetera opting to portray Chamberlain for the popular "Snatch Game" segment.

In one of the most publicised murder trials in Australian history, Chamberlain was wrongly accused of murdering her own baby and jailed for three years in 1982. The child, Azaria, was snatched by a dingo from a campsite near Uluru, a moment Etcetera Etcetera mocked during the episode.

Lindy Chamberlain is seen here arriving at court in 1982 with her then-husband Michael, she was on trial for the murder of her baby daughter, Azaria. Photo / Getty Images

Ahead of the game, RuPaul had quizzed the contestants on their characters of choice in the workroom.

"How old were you when you became aware of Lindy Chamberlain?" RuPaul asked Etcetera Etcetera.

"My mum used to always say it, she used to tuck me into bed and say hope the dingoes don't get you tonight," the contestant joked in response.

While Ru seemed unfazed by the controversial choice, fellow contestants raised their eyebrows.

"I don't know where the humour is in that," Art Simone said.

Sydney drag queen Etcetera Etcetera caused outrage by portraying Lindy Chamberlain for the popular Ru Paul's Drag Race "Snatch Game" segment. Photo / Supplied

"I think Etcetera Etcetera is taking a bit of a risk … Lindy Chamberlain is quite difficult to make funny," Karen from Finance added.

Charging ahead with the choice and confident with her performance, Etcetera Etcetera told the camera in confessional during the segment: "I think I'm hilarious."

While the performance even elicited a few laughs from Ru, who joked of the blue humour "We are all going to hell for this," over on Twitter, the general consensus was a feeling of discomfort:

I take a lot to offend and appreciate black comedy but Lindy Chamberlain was a really poor choice. It actually made me really uncomfortable.
Her baby died and she couldn't grieve properly. She was hounded by the media mercilessly for years.
Do better. #DragRaceDownUnder

— Megan Harding (@megsyharding) May 8, 2021

I’d been looking forward to Drag Race Down Under for so long but the decision to allow a Lindy Chamberlain character in Snatch Game has soured the entire experience. There is no humour to be mined from that tragedy. The queen and producers involved should be ashamed.

— Brydie Lee-Kennedy (@BrydieLK) May 8, 2021

Doing Lindy Chamberlain was a decision of absolute poor taste. This was neither funny, nor a bit risqué. It was rude and distasteful. How nobody questioned it and asked her to change is beyond me! #DragRaceDownUnder

— sophie (@sophieelophiee) May 8, 2021

I remember the night that news broke that Azaria Chamberlain was taken by a dingo. Lindy Chamberlain was charged with murder and convicted and spent nearly four years in Berrima Gaol. She was later released and her conviction quashed. To lampoon her in a drag act is disgusting!

— Cool Pete (@CoolCoolpete36) May 8, 2021

It wasn't the first Lindy Chamberlain gag on the series.

In episode one, RuPaul appeared out of drag on the panel as an "extra special guest judge".

"Didn't you hear? A dingo ate my make-up," he joked, adding: "Darling, my make-up got lost in transit."