John Waters says intimate piece of Divine memorabilia being held hostage: 'They asked for a ludicrous amount of money'

Director John Waters says there is one special artifact missing in a new exhibit at Los Angeles' Academy Museum honoring his legendary career: "Divine's cheater."

Waters explains that a "cheater" is drag talk for paraphernalia that covers a penis. The filmmaker, who collaborated with the late drag queen on many movies, including Hairspray, Pink Flamingos, and Polyester, says a friend ended up with the cheater after Divine's death in 1988 and promised to will it to Waters, but when that friend later died, it ended up in other hands.

"He died and his family came in and took everything and sold it through an auction place," Waters explains. "So somebody bought a box with a million things in it, including the cheater, and then called me and wanted a whole lot of money, like held it hostage, kind of. I mean, they literally didn't do that, but they asked for a ludicrous amount of money."

Waters, who didn't disclose the asking price, says he told the new owner he wanted to put the memorabilia in the film archive, but they refused to give it to him.

"They still have it somewhere," he says, then exclaims, "I want that cheater back!"

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' "John Waters: Pope of Trash" marks the first comprehensive museum exhibition dedicated to the 60-year career of the provocateur behind cult darlings like Multiple Maniacs and Female Trouble, who found himself embraced by the mainstream thanks to his 1988 comedy, Hairspray, which was later adapted for Broadway and a 2007 musical remake movie.

But the indie director, who is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, has no qualms going from counterculture icon to being celebrated by the Hollywood system. "I'm proud to be an insider like sneaking in," he says. "I don't want to be an outsider, you do that when you're young. Then you sneak in like the Trojan horse and then you get in the inside and you can change things."

The champion of bad taste says the new exhibition of his work "has broken some taboos" and he finds it meaningful that it's at such a high profile institution instead of a counterculture venue because he's already done that. "There is a surprise that I'm having a show at the Academy Museum," he says.

At 77, Waters still views himself as a radical, only now he finds himself more cautious of the reaction from his fellow liberals after a career shocking conservatives with movies that pushed progressive values and featured queer artists and outrageous sexual acts. "I'm not un-cancelable, I watch what I say," he admits.

"I fought for free speech, and today, there are certain political threats that don't allow you to speak. I'm against that," he says. "I'm more careful about saying things for liberal censorship than conservative today. They gave up on me. ... I do Fox News whenever they ask me. I always go on. I love to go on it. It's enemy territory and they're great to me."

Once the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are resolved, Waters is set to make his return to filmmaking for the first time since 2004's A Dirty Shame as writer and director of a big screen adaptation of his novel, Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance.

"John Waters: Pope of Trash" is on view at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles now through Aug. 4, 2024.

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