Drag queen once invited to White House, fêted by Kamala Harris accused of serial sex assault
A celebrity drag performer being accused of serial sexual assault was previously fêted by President Joe Biden’s White House and Vice President Kamala Harris — becoming the first person to wear drag at an event at the official VP residence.
Shangela, of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fame, was the focus of a damning Rolling Stone exposé this week with five accusers alleging sexual abuse — nearly a year after also being sued for rape.
The “A Star Is Born” performer, born Darius Jeremy Pierce, has known Harris since at least 2019, when they posed together for a selfie when the now-VP was running for president.
Shangela gushed about Harris being “a fierce ally” for the “LGBTQIA+ family,” saying, “I can for sure say I am proud to see a strong, intelligent, dedicated Black/Indian woman going after the Democratic nomination.”
Harris then invited Shangela to a Pride event at the Naval Observatory in 2022, where the performer became the first ever to attend the official residence in drag, People magazine reported at the time.
“I woke up today asking myself ‘Did that really just happen?’” Shangela wrote on Instagram after “laughing and sobbing” at the magnitude of being invited to speak at Harris’ historic event.
“Last night I had the honor of becoming the first drag queen in drag to ever attend an event at the residence of the Vice President of America. …
“Me — the lil country gay kid from Paris, TX just helped introduce the highest ranking female leader ever elected in our country. And I did it standing in my truth.”
A spokeswoman for Harris’ office did not immediately return a request for comment from The Post.
Several months later, she was invited to the White House for Biden’s ceremonial signing of The Respect for Marriage Act, where she also dressed in drag and posed with the veep.
“What an honor to be invited to the White House by our @potus and @drbiden yesterday to witness the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act,” she wrote on Instagram.
“The weather was chill but the emotions were warm and fuzzy … and as a drag queen whose community is specifically targeted right now, this type of inclusion meant A LOT.”
Shangela’s lawyer Andrew Brettler did not immediately respiond to a request for comment Wednesday about the accusations of sex abuse or ties to Biden and Harris.
Shangela, who only uses she/her pronouns while in drag, has been accused of either sexually assaulting five people in the queer community, or trying to have sex with them after they were too intoxicated to consent, Rolling Stone said.
The alleged incidents, involving men and non-binary accusers between the ages of 18 and 23, date back to 2012, several years after the now-42-year-old had risen to fame on the cable TV reality show.
In one instance, a teenage accuser said Shangela tried to anally penetrate him after he had been plied with booze and vomited all over the performer’s hotel bed, the mag reported.
Two other accusers said they had blacked out only to wake up and be led to believe they had engaged in group sex with Shangela and another man.
Brettler had reportedly denied the allegations and said Shangela had never had “nonconsensual sex of any kind with them, or anyone else.”
The accusers told Rolling Stone they had been reluctant to speak out because of nationwide GOP-led backlash against drag shows, but they were empowered after a former HBO production assistant sued Shangela for rape last year.