Ask the internet to get mean, and it’ll go above and beyond.
The people of the internet proved that over Memorial Day weekend, when a viral post calling for “the nastiest read you’ve ever seen someone give” garnered thousands of responses on X. Shade can be found anywhere, it turns out, from the hallowed halls of reality TV to the darkest corners of social media, and it all adds up to a masterclass in dragging people for filth.
what’s the nastiest read you’ve ever seen someone give😭
Many of the most popular responses come from reality TV shows — they’re breeding grounds for drama, after all. That includes shows like Big Brother (and its all-celebrity edition)…
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…Project Runway, where both the judges and the contestants have no issue reading each other…
…Survivor, which basically builds a roast into its finales…
…and of course, RuPaul’s Drag Race. Who could ever hope to read better than the likes of Bianca Del Rio and Latrice Royale?
But even RuPaul herself gets read sometimes, like by her idol Judge Judy in an infamous interview.
Other nasty reads come from social media, where there’s one influencer who’s made herself known as the queen of the clapback: Terri Joe, the homophobic alter ego of comedian Psyiconic. From TikTok lives with the likes of Bob the Drag Queen to podcasts with internet icons like Trisha Paytas, Terri takes any and every opportunity to read the girls down.
But that makes it even more delicious when she gets a taste of her own medicine.
But many of the best reads on the internet come not from celebrities or influencers, but from the everyday folks who prove that shade, actually, is all around.
And when it comes to drags on social media, who could forget when @glamdemon2004 asked us all to “spell pharaoh”?
Finally, there’s the world of scripted TV, where screenwriters get to flex their insult game. Folks posted everything from an iconic Derry Girls scene…
…and one of Euphoria’s most infamous moments…
…to the nonstop shade parade that was Glee…
…and a Game of Thrones read so lethal it cost literal lives.
And of course, this list would be incomplete without Pose’s Elektra Abundance-Evangelista, who never — and we mean never — let another girl get the last word.
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