Five people have accused Shangela, the three-time “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant, of sexually assaulting or trying to have sex with them, according to an investigation published in Rolling Stone Magazine.
Shangela, whose real name is Darius Jeremy “DJ” Pierce, denied the allegations. His attorney Andrew Brettler, sent a legal letter to Rolling Stone that said his client “adamantly denies ever engaging in nonconsensual sex.” Brettler called the allegations “false and unsupported by any evidence or reliable witness testimony” and that there were “significant problems with purported accusers’ accounts.”
The unnamed accusers told Rolling Stone that Pierce, 43, either “sexually assaulted them or attempted to have sex with them when they were too inebriated to consent.”
Rolling Stone said it took 16 months to interview the accusers and to comb through legal records. The magazine said it unearthed a police complaint that has not been reported until now, as well as multiple sexually coercive and assaultive behavior allegations against Pierce.
The allegations span from 2012 to 2018 in Louisiana, Texas, California, and the United Kingdom. At the time of the alleged assaults, the five accusers ranged in age from 18 to 23. Three of the five called themselves aspiring drag queens who were aware of Pierce’s celebrity.
The accusers identify as queer and cited the rise in anti-trans and anti-drag laws in the United States as causing them to “grapple” with coming forward with their allegations. “But, they all said they want Pierce — not the queer community — to bear accountability for the allegations,” the report reads.
Pierce, according to Rolling Stone, said he remembered meeting four of the accusers but couldn’t remember the fifth. He denied any wrongdoing.
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Earlier this month, a court dismissed a civil lawsuit against Pierce that alleged sexual assault and gender violence. Daniel McGarrigle, a former “Drag Race” production assistant, made the allegations. The disposition of the case is unclear. Some reports say it was ”settled,” while others say it was “dismissed with prejudice,” which means it can’t be refiled.
The Rolling Stone report also clearly iterates that neither “RuPaul’s Drag Race” nor RuPaul himself is implicated in any of the outlet’s findings.
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