The world of drag was shattered by the premature death of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne — and after a fellow queen disrespected Viv, Ru threw shade in a characteristically subtle way.
On January 5, The Vivienne’s manager, Simon Jones, broke the news that they had died suddenly at the age of 32.
As we reported, shocked and saddened tributes poured in from everyone who knew and loved The Vivienne, with both RPDR personalities and fans expressing their grief.
Tyra Sanchez was one notable exception, however.
On January 5, the same day news of Vivienne’s death broke, Tyra shared what instantly became a universally reviled remark on Twitter/X:
Tyra retweeted a tweet by The Vivienne from back in 2020, in which they said they “bet Tyra [was] fuming” over Netflix having “spoiled” a win.
In a much-delayed response, Tyra addressed the late Vivienne’s remark with an off-color quip about the “fumes of the crematorium.”
In the comments, RPDR and House Of Villains Season 2 star Kandy Muse was also fuming.
She spat back:
“I’ve defended you for years but now you can absolutely go f*** yourself and if our path were to ever cross it’s absolutely on sight b****, it’s not a threat it’s a promise. You disgusting person.”
Kandy wasn’t the only queen horrified by Tyra’s crass behavior – which she continued engaging in over the course of days – as Ru appeared to express her disdain in an indirect but cutting way.
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The World Of Drag Mourns Drag Race UK’s First Ever Winner The Vivienne
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s “The Vivienne” suddenly passed away at 32, leaving the world of drag mourning the performer.
‘Mother Has Spoken’
On January 6, RuPaul shared a photograph on Instagram to memorialize Vivienne.
In the caption, Ru wrote:
“With a broken heart, I join the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne — an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being.”
That wasn’t all she had to say on the matter, though.
On January 8, RuPaul shared a Reel of footage from RuPaul’s Drag Race, a scene from Season 2, Episode 11.
In a longer scene, Ru slaps several queens, including Tyra, but the Reel only depicts the Tyra snippet:
One of the most widely repeated comments on the Reel read: “Mother has spoken 👏.”
Ru’s Reel was shared on Reddit’s r/Fauxmoi and r/rupaulsdragrace, where users had a lot to say about it.
On the latter post, the top two RPDR fan comments focused on the fact Ru took the unusual step of addressing it:
“Shook that Mother is even indirectly addressing this at all, genuinely jaw on the floor.”
“She had a soft spot for Viv. I believe she knew her before the UK franchise was a thing. Glad she’s addressing it.”
Fans couldn’t get over Ru getting involved, and another opined: “You know you f***** up when Ru is coming for you. Has she ever done something like this toward a queen before? I honestly don’t remember it [ever] happening.”
Over on r/Fauxmoi, a user dismissed Tyra’s crass tweet about The Vivienne in a top comment: “Tyra’s comments were so disgusting (which makes sense, he’s a huge bitter troll). I hope the drag race fandom completely ignores her after these antics.”
Another user described Ru’s Reel as a “HUGE deal” because she “never addresses” similar controversies, and someone replied: “Ru adored Viv, she must be truly furious to have posted this.”
- Release Date
- February 2, 2009
- Main Genre
- Reality TV
- Network
- MTV
- Cast
- RuPaul
- Number of Episodes
- 200
- Seasons
- 17
- Awards Nominations
- Primetime Emmy Awards, Critics Choice Awards
- Awards Won
- Critics’ Choice Real TV Awards: Best Competition Series
- Avg Episode Length
- 42–60 minutes
- Producer
- Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, RuPaul, Steven Corfe, Mandy Salangsang, Chris McKim
- Production Company
- World of Wonder
