‘Drag Race’ Star Shangela Accused of Multiple Sexual Assaults

5 participants of the LGBTQ neighborhood are leveling complaints of sexual offense or threat versus drag entertainer Shangela, that resolved a previous rape situation that presumably happened on the collection of an HBO collection with arbitration in February.

In a Wanderer post released on Monday, the 5 accusers recount events in which Darius Jeremy Pierce, the male behind the drag personality Shangela, that showed up in period 2 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race and HBO’s drag-centric program, We’re Right here, presumably attacked people or tried to obtain them inebriated past the capability to offer approval. All 5 informed the publication that they stepped forward after HBO manufacturing aide Daniel McGarrigle submitted a legal action in Los Angeles Superior Court charging Pierce of drugging and raping him after a 2020 cover event; the situation was resolved in arbitration after a court threw 2 of the costs. Pierce emphatically refuted the claims, stating it“has no basis in fact or in law.”

Several of the brand-new complaints versus Pierce in Wanderer‘s story have details similar to McGarrigle’ s and to each other– almost all of the accounts entail Pierce presumably acquiring or supplying alcohol to the boys, that varied in age from 18 to 23 at the time they claim the assaults happened; numerous recollections consist of the guys awakening in Pierce’s bed in a dazed and baffled state and there are multiple accounts of a 3rd male existing in the space.

One of Pierce’s accusers, a 27-year-old called Helmer, made a decision to submit an authorities record in Los Angeles in 2023 relating to the claimed attack. Helmer claims he was 20 when he fulfilled Pierce in Los Angeles in 2017 and remembers “waking up completely naked on a bed and believed to be at Pierce’s residence” after both fulfilled for supper and the drag star purchased him a mojito.

“[Helmer] asked Pierce what happened last night and why he was naked,” the problem read, according to the record. “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.’”

Shooting down these cases, a lawyer standing for Pierce informed the publication that both had consensual sex with a 3rd male they would certainly fulfilled at a bar. He likewise refuted cases from a 2nd accuser, Edward Ramirez asserted the entertainer pushed him to the flooring in a storage room when he was 21 years of ages in 2018 and tried to permeate him. Brettler informed Wanderer that 3 individuals can“attest that Mr. Pierce and Mr. Ramirez were never alone together”

One more accuser, Zein Checri informed the publication he was 18 in 2017 when he fulfilled Pierce in London. After having beverages Pierce offered, he located himself in Pierce’s bed, having actually thrown up; he claimed that he was not “in control of anything that was going on.” Pierce’s lawyer claimed that he and Checri were not intimate, yet they did eat alcohol, and he would certainly mosted likely to his customer’s apartment or condo.

An accuser called Zachary claims he fulfilled Item in New Orleans in 2015 after that “blacked out” after an evening of alcohol consumption and awakened to Pierce and a 3rd male. “I listened to Shangela claim, ‘Stick it in him,’ and I rapidly claimed ‘No,’” Zachary recalled to Rolling Stone. He said that he passed out again after. Pierce’ s lawyer informed Wanderer Zachary “engaged in consensual sexual acts before falling asleep” that evening.

Pierce is rejecting ever before having actually fulfilled RoyLee Soliz, a 5th accuser that declares, in 2012, after being provided beverages, he went to sleep yet awakened to the entertainer he had “looked up to” trying to put his penis inside his mouth. In a rejection through his attorney, Pierce claimed he has “no recollection of meeting RoyLee Soliz,” and has actually never ever had“nonconsensual sex of any kind with them, or anyone else.”

According to the record, numerous of the accusers that stepped forward with claims versus Pierce were reluctant to do so, as it can produce an impact to the drag neighborhood. As the when below ground scene has actually relocated right into the mainstream, with programs like Drag Race and We’re Right here discovering a bigger target market, family-friendly occasions like drag breakfasts and tale hours have actually been targeted by conservative activity teams. Consulting with the publication, Checri claimed that he really feels that “it is a big relief that, finally, this conversation is starting to happen.”