'RuPaul's Drag Race' star accused of multiple sexual assaults: report
Editor's note: This article contains sexually graphic depictions.
A former "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant known as "Shangela," who attended a 2022 LGBT pride event at Vice President Kamala Harris' residence, has been accused of sexual assault by five people between the ages of 18 and 23.
The allegations were uncovered thanks to a 16-month investigation that began at the now-defunct BuzzFeed News and continued at Rolling Stone, which published the allegations last week.
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Victims claim that the 43-year-old drag performer, whose legal name is Darius Jeremy Pierce, sexually assaulted them while they were inebriated, with the alleged assaults taking place from 2012 to 2018. Pierce maintains that he has never engaged in nonconsensual sex with anyone.
Pierce's accusers say that they were aware of his celebrity status as a drag performer and actor, and three of the alleged victims were aspiring drag queens themselves.
The alleged assaults occurred in Louisiana, Texas, California and the United Kingdom. Five people described occasions where they stayed up late drinking, with one source telling Rolling Stone they became so drunk and vomited in the bed where the alleged assault occured.
Pierce was accused of assault in May after a production assistant for HBO's "We're Here," Daniel McGarrigle, filed a civil suit against the star.
McGarrigle alleged in the suit that he vomited after consuming drinks that Pierce gave him. He claimed he later woke up to Pierce assaulting him with his genitals, with Pierce saying, "I know you want it, and you're going to take it."
The case was dismissed after all parties reached a settlement, the outlet reported. Five more alleged victims have come forward since then. The five accusers either identify as "queer" or have participated in drag performances, which made them hesitant to speak out, according to Rolling Stone.
Due to recent efforts in some states to restrict drag performances considered inappropriate for children or outlaw so-called "gender-affirming care" for minors, the accusers were hesitant to speak out.
One of the sources who spoke to Rolling Stone is 27-year-old Helmer, who told the outlet that he was only 20 at the time of the alleged assault. The young adult claimed that he met Pierce in 2017 while working at a bar in Los Angeles and that the older man messaged on Instagram to ask him out for drinks.
Helmer later told police that Pierce bought him a Mojito but could not remember what happened afterward. According to a complaint filed with the police, Helmer recalled "waking up completely naked on a bed and believed to be at Pierce's residence."
"[Helmer] asked Pierce what happened last night and why he was naked," the complaint cited in Rolling Stone's reporting said. "Pierce responded with, 'We had sex, and there was another guy involved that you brought in.' [Helmer] asked who that other guy was, and Pierce stated he did not know, 'but you were really into it.'"
Helmer eventually told some friends about the alleged assault, who recalled hearing the allegation in 2017, according to Rolling Stone. In a legal letter to the outlet, Pierce's attorney, Andrew Brettler, called Helmer's accusations "absurd."
The lawyer stated that Pierce and Helmer "went back to Mr. Pierce's house where they engaged in consensual sex with a third man who they met at the bar." Brettler also claimed that Helmer remained in contact with Pierce months after the encounter, and he supposedly never "once mentioned that Mr. Pierce mistreated him, let alone sexually assaulted him."
Brettler said the allegations against his client are "false and unsupported by any evidence or reliable witness testimony," claiming there were "significant problems with purported accusers' accounts." He added that his client "adamantly denies ever engaging in nonconsensual sex."
In 2022, Pierce spoke at the U.S. Naval Observatory, which serves as the official residence of the vice president. During his speech, Pierce denounced his home state of Texas, accusing it of trying to "ban drag queens."
"I'm a proud drag queen!" Pierce said, prompting some members of the crowd to cheer.
Following controversy over various drag performances in Texas that exposed minors to sexually inappropriate content, the state passed Senate Bill 12 in 2023. The legislation, slated to go into effect on Sept. 1, intended to prohibit venues from allowing individuals under 18 to attend "sexually oriented" events and performances.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner, a Reagan appointee, ruled in September that Texas could not enforce the law because it "impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech."
Several drag shows throughout the state of Texas have prompted concerns about minors witnessing sexually explicit content.
In December 2022, the Texas Family Project shared footage of a "Christmas Drag Show" event in San Antonio's House of Eternas, marketed as being for all ages. The video shows a man dressed in drag stroking a young girl's hair, and, at another point in the video, the girl is seen giving money to the performers.
Another part of the video shows a little girl began to cry after one of the performers asked if she was enjoying the show, and she shook her head. The venue later canceled its remaining drag shows for the year after the video surfaced, claiming that the footage led to them being bullied.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
