A dual reckoning
Time|March 11, 2024
ONCE I BECAME A CELEBRITY, MIAMI WAS MY BIGGEST market. Flying in from New York City, I could perform in two clubs in one night. Back then, those gigs paid $10,000, or maybe $12,000. It was good, easy money, and they treated me like the star I had become. I flew first-class, stayed in the best hotels, ate at elegant restaurants.
RUPAUL
A dual reckoning

Having money to me was like having a tank full of gas it didn't mean much if you didn't have an imagination. No matter how poor I'd been, I'd never felt as impoverished as the rich people I knew whose capacity for fun was stunted.

And there was no one more fun than Georges.

After a few years of traveling to Miami, we bought a condo overlooking the ocean. It would be something Georges could run point on - I knew touring around with me had diminished his sense of personal purpose. At first, he was flying from New York to supervise. But then he started spending so much time in Miami, he rented a place. There was an endless string of problems - not uncommon for a renovation, but I heard through a friend that the people he was hanging out with were shady. And each time I saw him, he'd gotten a little bit skinnier.

GEORGES AND I had never strictly outlined the terms of our relationship, but it was understood that we were not to hurt each other's feelings. Neither of us would have done anything to make the other uncomfortable when we were together, nor would we have attempted to police each other's behavior when we were apart. But I had a sense that he was doing things I wouldn't like. I just wasn't ready to face the details. Our lives were becoming increasingly separate.

When we met in Las Vegas for my sister's wedding, he was emaciated. He slept all day. After, in Los Angeles with me, it seemed like he was sleepwalking. As I drove him to the airport to fly to Miami, we argued in the car. He was so angry, and I didn't know why. "Just stop the car right here," he said. "Let me out." I persuaded him to let me take him the rest of the way, but he was distant, agitated, and weird.

A few weeks later, I went to see him, feeling seasick on the flight. When I arrived, I had barely dropped my bags when he looked me dead in the eye. "I have something I need to tell you," he said. "I am addicted to crystal meth."

Esta historia es de la edición March 11, 2024 de Time.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición March 11, 2024 de Time.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE TIMEVer todo
How Trump Won
Time

How Trump Won

THE FORMER PRESIDENT'S RE-ELECTION IS THE NEXT STEP IN A POLITICAL CAREER UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY

time-read
10+ minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Zak Brown The McLaren Racing CEO on Formula One in the U.S., his team's chase for a championship, and the future propulsion of the automobile
Time

Zak Brown The McLaren Racing CEO on Formula One in the U.S., his team's chase for a championship, and the future propulsion of the automobile

The McLaren F1 team is in the running for its first Formula One constructors' championship since 1998. What's that like? I'm kind of living on the edge of my seat. That's why sport is always going to be one of the most engaging forms of entertainment for people around the world.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Say Nothing speaks volumes
Time

Say Nothing speaks volumes

IN 1972, AT THE BLOODY HEIGHT OF the Troubles, home invaders abducted a widowed mother of 10 named Jean McConville from her Belfast apartment. Her children never saw her alive again.

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Portrait of the artist in his ninth decade
Time

Portrait of the artist in his ninth decade

AS A CURATOR AT THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART, Eleanor Nairne is very particular about how an artwork should be placed. \"I always say that you have to ask the work if it's sat comfortably,\" she says.

time-read
5 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
No rest for the songs of Wicked
Time

No rest for the songs of Wicked

THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST HAS BEEN A FIXTURE in American culture for nearly 125 years. After coming to life in 1900 with L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, she rose to prominence onscreen in 1939, portrayed by Margaret Hamilton as a sinister old lady intent on ruining an innocent girl's wish to go home.

time-read
5 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Time

SENTIMENTAL VALUE

With Here, Robert Zemeckis stays true to his unlikely blend of new technologies and old-fashioned storytelling

time-read
6 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
TIME 100 CLIMATE
Time

TIME 100 CLIMATE

These are the 100 most influential leaders driving business climate action

time-read
10 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
BABY TALK
Time

BABY TALK

UNSURE ABOUT HAVING KIDS? THERAPIST MERLE BOMBARDIERI CAN HELP YOU FIGURE IT OUT

time-read
10 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
The many horrors of the Pelicot rape trial
Time

The many horrors of the Pelicot rape trial

THE TRIAL OF DOMINIQUE PELICOT, THE MAN IN THE South of France who pleaded guilty in September to charges of secretly drugging his wife of 50 years, Gisele, and, over the course of about a decade, filming dozens of men as they had sex with her while she was sedated, would have been disturbing enough just as the story of an epically vile husband.

time-read
5 minutos  |
November 25, 2024
Health Matters
Time

Health Matters

COVID-19 MAY NOT BE A PUBLIChealth emergency anymore, but you still need your yearly shot. In fact, it seems to peak about twice a year: once during the traditional respiratory-disease season in the fall and winter, and once during summer.

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 25, 2024