'Sickening' Michael Strahan’s 'Child Drag Queen' Interview Shocks Fans as It Resurfaces Amid National Anthem Outrage
A resurfaced interview featuring Strahan and a 'child drag queen' has fans raging.
Nov. 13 2024, Published 1:10 p.m. ET
Michael Strahan is now in the middle of another controversy due to a resurfaced interview that has fans raging.
The former NFL star interviewed a "child drag queen" on Good Morning America in 2018 in an interview that is seeing the light of day again following Strahan's national anthem drama, RadarOnline.com can reveal
Strahan is once again in the middle of a controversy.
During the morning show chat, Strahan sat down with "Desmond Is Amazing", one of the "youngest and first drag queen/kids". Desmond, now Desi Napoles, began doing drag at the age of eight.
In the resurfaced clip, the 11-year-old walks out to Cher's Strong Enough while wearing a dress, heels, and a blond wig. While members of the audience were clapping at their appearance, some fans are now not happy.
In 2018, Strahan interviewed a 'child drag queen' on 'Good Morning America'.
One person raged: "Michael Strahan can’t respect his country/military men & women he’s surrounded by on this ship by simply putting his hand over his heart, but he’s happy to encourage child drag queens… Sickening."
Another cried: "Filthy degeneration of society", one user added, "I have a feeling that Michael’s popularity is going to plummet."
"Fire him. Disgraceful and creepy!" another critic said.
Desi Napoles was 11 years old when they appeared on the morning show.
Despite the strong feelings of some viewers, Strahan is still employed at Good Morning America as well as at Fox NFL even though the ex athlete ruffled feathers when he decided not to put his hand over his heart during the national anthem a day before Veterans Day.
Strahan received plenty of backlash, including from Newsmax commentator Todd Starnes, who tweeted: "Michael Strahan disrespected the military during a Veterans Day pre-game show on NFL on FOX."
He continued: "The great irony is Strahan on a ship surrounded by men and women who would willingly sacrifice their lives to protect his freedom. So, his behavior is not just repugnant, it's downright cowardly."
After the anger thrown his, Strahan first addressed the backlash in his own way, taking to Instagram to share a tribute to his father, including a photo of his dad in his military uniform.
He wrote at the time: "Thank you to all veterans and active service members who courageously risk their lives to protect us every day. Your selfless service is beyond measure. This is my hero, it is also my father, Maj. Gene W. Strahan, Sr.”
On Tuesday, following a tense encounter with a media outlet who asked about the incident, Strahan once again took it to the social media platform, this time to directly respond to the hate.
Strahan caught flack for not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem.
The dad-of-four shared: "... I want to address what happened this past weekend. I feel like I need to address it because it's spilled over to the point where I get out of my car today and I'm ambushed by a media outlet here at my house.
"I'm not proud of the way I handled that whole situation, but I think anybody out there can understand the things you gotta do. You're gonna protect your family and you're gonna protect your home, which is what I felt like I needed to do in that moment."
As for his national anthem decision, Strahan explained he was preoccupied admiring the U.S. Navy SEALs and sailors in attendance before he recognized he didn't have his hand over his heard, and then thought it was too late to correct it.
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He said: "By the time I looked up from that moment, all my five guys had their hands over their hearts, the national anthem's playing. I somewhat panic and I'm like, 'Do I be the fool that puts his hand over his heart after [the anthem starts]? Or do I just stand here with my hands in front of me respectfully?' Which, that is what I did and that's what happened."
Strahan concluded: "I grew up on a military base with a father who was a major in the army. My brother, my sister, my cousins, they all served in the military. I'm a military brat. And so the fact that [people are] saying I'm unpatriotic couldn't be further from the truth."
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