Star’s ‘vile’ reaction to Drag Race star The Vivienne’s death

An infamous reality television winner has sparked outrage with her “disgusting” reaction to the death of RuPaul’s Drace Race star The Vivienne.

An infamous reality television winner has sparked outrage with her “disgusting” reaction to the death of much-loved RuPaul’s Drace Race star The Vivienne.

It was announced yesterday that The Vivienne, who won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019, and later competed in RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2022, had died at the age of 32.

Emotional tributes flowed from dozens of fellow queens who’d appeared on the Drag Race franchise around the world – but one tweet stood out among the heartfelt messages.

Just hours after the news was announced, US Drag Race season two winner Tyra Sanchez surfaced an old tweet of The Vivienne’s with a truly shocking response.

The Vivienne was one of the UK’s leading drag performers. Picture: John Lamparski/Getty

“Bet Tyra was fuming when she Realised Netflix Spoiled the win Too. Sorry gal. You Tried though,” The Vivienne had written in July 2020. The tweet was a dig at Tyra, and was in reference to Netflix using a photo of the season’s winner to promote the Drag Race All Stars 5 finale.

Four and a half years later, Sanchez yesterday reacted to news of The Vivienne’s death by resurfacing that old tweet with a ghoulish new response of her own: “Yet it doesn’t compare to the fumes of the crematorium.”

Tyra Sanchez' offending tweet has sparked condemnation.

Reaction was swift, and Tyra’s tweet has now been viewed millions of times as outrage spread.

Sanchez has long been the most controversial winner in the Drag Race franchise – in 2018, she was banned from attending fan convention RuPaul’s DragCon LA for making bomb threats about the event – but the sick tweet was a step too far even for those who’d previously defended her.

Two-time finalist Kandy Muse called Tyra a “disgusting person.”

“I’ve defended you for years but now you can absolutely go f**k yourself ... You disgusting person,” she tweeted.

Drag Race UK finalist Tayce tweeted that she was “Truly disappointed. Extremely distasteful.”

Others called the online outburst “vile” and “miserable,” with more than one person calling on RuPaul to strip Tyra of her crown as one of the franchise’s earliest winners.

Fans called for RuPaul to strip Tyra (pictured) of her title as a Drag Race winner.

Meanwhile, police have released a sad update on The Vivienne’s sudden death, revealing the drag star – real name James Lee Williams – was found dead at home.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said officers had been called to an address in Chorlton-by-Backford, near Chester, at 12.22pm on Sunday following reports of a sudden death, and found there to be “no suspicious circumstances.” No cause of death has been publicly released.

The news of Williams’s death was announced by their publicist, Simon Jones, yesterday. He wrote that Williams was an “incredibly loved, warm-hearted and amazing person”.

“Their family are heartbroken at the loss of their son, brother, and uncle. They are so proud of the wonderful things James achieved in their life and career,” Jones wrote.

“We will not be releasing any further details.”