Who Was The Mysterious Green Goblin At The 2024 Emmys?

The 75th Emmy Awards red carpet was filled with the usual glitz and glamor, but one guest stood out from the pack. Amid a sea of coiffed hair and refined makeup, a wrinkled green goblin skulked in the background. Naturally, the Emmy goblin launched a thousand memes, with X (née Twitter) feeds overflowing with mentions of Peter Parker's enemy and little green ghouls.

So who was the elusive chartreuse? The Emmys troll was none other than "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant Princess Poppy, who made waves when she appeared on the 15th season of the long-running reality series. The drag queen arrived at the Emmys alongside her fellow Season 15 contestants, including Sasha Colby, Robin Fierce, Jax, Aura Mayari, and Salina EsTitties.

While the other queens donned luxurious red carpet gowns, Princess Poppy opted for a more unique look. "I wanted to do the exact opposite of what is expected of you when you go to an event like this. I wanted to take decorum and turn it on its head," she told Entertainment Weekly. "Mainly I wanted to be a troll-slash-hag. I wanted to be so shocking that you just have to turn and look at me — in the worst way possible."

Princess Poppy's style inspirations were decidedly unorthodox. The drag queen cited Roz from "Monsters, Inc.," Jabba the Hutt, and the witchy swamp hag Meg Mucklebones from the 1985 fantasy film "Legend." The performer stuck out on the red carpet, and thanks to a "RuPaul's Drag Race" Emmy win, she even graced the stage.

At the Emmys, "RuPaul's Drag Race" continued its awards season dominance, winning best reality competition program for the fifth year. RuPaul cleaned up as well, winning the outstanding host award for the eighth consecutive year. He's the winningest person of color in Emmys history (or, shall we say, herstory).

It was a landmark night for Princess Poppy fans, too, as the performer had previously announced her semi-retirement. "I want to fall off the face of the planet. I don't want to be famous, I want to fade into obscurity," Poppy told Entertainment Weekly in April 2023. She explained that doing "Drag Race" gave her extreme burnout and that fame and a full-time career weren't necessarily her end goal. "Princess Poppy is always going to be there. I'm always going to do it, but it's probably going to be a lot less frequent," she continued. "Touring and doing drag all the time is really rough, it's tough on your body, and if you're not loving every minute, then it's difficult."

The Emmys marked Poppy's first high-profile appearance since she stepped out of the limelight — and she did so in an exquisite shade of lime. During his acceptance speech, RuPaul — flanked by the Season 15 queens — made an impassioned defense of LGBTQ+ people in an era increasingly defined by anti-trans legislation. "RuPaul telling people not to be scared of drag queens while Princess Poppy takes the Emmys stage as a literal hell goblin," noted EW reporter Joey Nolfi on X. "I am SCREAMING."