‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ star Shangela accused of sexually assaulting multiple people

“[Helmer] asked Pierce what happened last night and why he was naked,” the complaint, which was obtained by Rolling Stone, read. “Pierce responded with, ‘We had sex, and there was another guy involved that you brought in.’ [Helmer] asked who that other guy was, and Pierce stated he did not know, ‘but you were really into it.’”

Helmer admitted that it “took him a few days to realize that he was sexually assaulted,” and he was initially worried that he “did not have enough evidence” to report it.

However, after speaking to both his roommate and his current boyfriend –– who both confirmed the account to Rolling Stone –– Helmer filed a police report in 2023.

Pierce’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, called Helmer’s allegations “absurd” and claimed the two “went back to Mr. Pierce’s house where they engaged in consensual sex with a third man who they met at the bar.”

Brettler had no further comment when Pvnew reached out.

A second survivor named Edward Ramirez accused Pierce of assaulting him after he “shoved me on the floor in a closet and tried to penetrate me” when he was 21 years old in 2018.

“I’m very confident I was clear with my ‘nos.’ I was declining advances,” Ramirez told Rolling Stone. “He still kept trying anyway.”

Brettler denied the allegation and claimed three people could “attest that Mr. Pierce and Mr. Ramirez were never alone together” on the night in question.

“The apartment was small and we were all hanging together until we all left,” one witness claimed to the outlet. “[Shangela] is one of the kindest, most generous, and hardworking drag queens in the business. And it’s really disgusting to see how people are trying to attack her with these untrue stories.”

However, Ramirez defended his allegation and claimed that the altercation happened in a closet while the other guests were leaving.

The third person, Checri, claimed that he was 18 when he met Pierce at an event in London in November 2017. He alleges that Pierce bought people drinks before the two of them headed to Pierce’s hotel room.

Checri recalled being intoxicated and unable to consent. However, he claimed he threw up in Pierce’s hotel bed and Pierce, now 42, allegedly attempted anal penetration.

“I just remember very clearly a sequence of events, which was me being on the bed,” Checri claimed to the outlet. “Then being sick on the bed, everywhere. [I remember] feeling it, and seeing it, and smelling it. I very viscerally remember that. And then, whilst that was happening, like, an attempt at penetration.”

Checri further alleged that he was not “in control of anything that was going on.”

“I felt so humiliated by the fact that I felt like an accessory that was available at a certain time,” he told the outlet.

Speaking on behalf of his client, Brettler admitted that “alcohol was consumed” during that night, but “no one was visibly intoxicated, or impaired to the point that they could not make decisions for themselves.”

Pierce’s lawyer further claimed that the two “made out” but fell asleep “fully clothed” before Checri began “vomiting in the bed.”

“Mr. Pierce then encouraged Mr. Checri to go home. Embarrassed and apologetic, Mr. Checri gathered his belongings and left. Apart from cuddling in bed together before falling asleep, Messrs. Pierce and Checri were not intimate, and did not have sex,” Brettler alleged.

The fourth person to come forward, named Zachary, alleged to the outlet that Pierce also tried to anally penetrate him after a night of drinking when he was 23 years old.

Zachary claimed that after meeting at a meet-and-greet in New Orleans in 2015, the two went out until he “blacked out” and woke up to Pierce and a third man.

“I heard Shangela say, ‘Stick it in him,’ and I quickly said ‘No,’” Zachary recalled to Rolling Stone. “I am pretty sure that [the third unidentified man] didn’t do anything, but I passed out again, so I am not positive.”

Zachary admitted that he initially considered the ordeal a “celebrity encounter,” but later realized that what happened was “not great.”

Brettler claimed to the outlet that the two “engaged in consensual sexual acts before falling asleep.”

A fifth accuser, RoyLee Soliz, claimed that they also met Pierce at a meet-and-greet in Texas in 2012 when they were 20 years old.

Soliz recalled drinking with Pierce afterward and returning to his hotel room because they “looked up to” Pierce, but things took a turn after he fell asleep.

“I just remember trying to sleep and closing my mouth when she (Shangela) tried to put her penis in my mouth,” Soliz claimed. “I really didn’t have any strength to tell her to stop or that I didn’t want to have sex with her.… She had gotten me so drunk that I couldn’t say no, and I was in no way mentally OK enough to feel strong or demand her to stop what she was doing.

Brettler told the outlet that Pierce has “no recollection of meeting RoyLee Soliz,” and he denied that Pierce ever engaged in “nonconsensual sex of any kind with them, or anyone else.”

All of the accusers pointed out to Rolling Stone that they were initially hesitant to come forward because of the anti-drag show movement in the country.

“[Pierce is] a huge spokesperson for a community in which they have hurt quite a few people. I would hope that people take this kind of thing seriously,” Checri said. “It is a big relief that, finally, this conversation is starting to happen.”

Several accusers also credited Daniel McGarrigle for their decision to speak out against Pierce.

McGarrigle — who worked as an HBO production assistant at the time — claimed in a 2023 lawsuit that Pierce allegedly raped him in a hotel room after getting drunk at a crew party in 2020.

McGarrigle claimed that he fell asleep in Pierce’s hotel room after throwing up, but he allegedly woke up to Pierce attacking him.

“Pierce overpowered McGarrigle and was able to hold him down,” he wrote in the lawsuit.

At the time, Pierce said he was “hurt and disgusted” by the “totally untrue allegations.”

Pierce and McGarrigle reached a settlement in February and the case was dismissed, per Rolling Stone.

Pierce rose to fame when he joined Season 2 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in 2010 before joining the “All Stars” season the following year.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.