Shangela, star of RuPaul's Drag Race, a talent contest that seeks the best drag queen in the United States -now in an international format; she has been accused of sexually assaulting a former production assistant for the HBO channel, according to a lawsuit she filed last Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The drag queen, whose real name is Darius Jeremy Pierce, has been sued by Daniel McGarrigle, who claims that the alleged attack took place after a party in February 2020.
According to documents obtained by the Deadline portal, McGarrigle claims that Pierce sexually assaulted him in a hotel room in Louisiana (USA), after making him drink alcohol and inviting him to his hotel room under the pretext of helping him do his business. suitcases, because I had an early return the next day.
McGarrigle claims that as he entered the room, he vomited in the bathroom, and finding himself so weak, Pierce suggested that he stay the night. According to the plaintiff, that was the moment when all hell would have begun: once asleep, fully clothed, he woke up suddenly to see Pierce on top of him.
He claims he yelled "no" and tried to struggle during the attack, but "felt extremely weak" and "disoriented" from ingesting substances and "fear" during the invasion. He adds that Pierce told him, "I know you want it and you'll take it."
Regarding why he did not report the assault at the time, McGarrigle admits that he was "afraid of losing his job", which he later resigned in 2021.
The popular drag queen flatly denies the allegations, calling them "totally baseless," adding that they "perpetuate harmful stereotypes that are harmful not only to me but also to my entire community."
"I cannot begin to explain how hurt and disgusted I am by these totally false allegations," Pierce insisted in a statement to Deadline, "This most recent filing is nothing more than an attempt to harm myself and a major television company. reputation. No one should be fooled: it has no basis in fact or law, and it will not be successful," he says.
McGarrigle is seeking unspecified financial damages for sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, false imprisonment and negligence from Pierce, as well as from the show's producer, Buckingham Television.
"Buckingham and HBO take the safety and well-being of our shows' staff very seriously, and Buckingham immediately launched an investigation [when informed of the incident in July 2021," an HBO representative said in a statement shared with Deadline. , explaining that they did not go ahead because "the investigation concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support these allegations."
