Tyra Sanchez Claims To Be Seeking A Lawsuit Against RuPaul In Facebook Post
Image: RuPaul/Instagram; James Ross/Facebook
James Ross, better known by his much maligned drag persona, Tyra Sanchez, has posted online about his intentions to file a lawsuit against RuPaul and Drag Race production company, World of Wonder.
Posting a “statement of claim” to his Facebook page on Monday, the one-time Drag Race winner said he intends to bring legal action against RuPaul Charles, Michelle Visage, and World of Wonder for “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, false light, and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage.”
“For over a decade, Defendants, acting collectively and in concert, have engaged in a pattern of conduct designed to discredit, disparage, and destroy Ross鈥檚 professional reputation, with reckless disregard for the truth and with the intent to incite hatred, harassment, and ostracization within the entertainment industry and among the public,” the post read.
Ross has long been a controversial figure in the Drag Race universe, and was last year criticised for offensive comments made following the deaths of fellow contestants, The Vivienne and Jiggly Caliente.
The post went on detail a number of incidents to substantiate these claims, including a “campaign of discrediting Ross” by Visage, “defamatory” storylines on Drag Race, and a false police report filed by World of Wonder accusing the retired performer of threatening to “blow up DragCon” in 2018.
Ross also claimed that a clip of RuPaul slapping Ross as part of an acting challenge in season 2- which was recirculated when RuPaul posted the clip to social media following Ross’ comments after The Vivienne’s death- was聽 “a calculated provocation intended to humiliate [him] and encourage renewed harassment”.
Validity of claim on shaky ground
Ross concluded the statement by saying he was seeking “affirmative relief, including compensatory and punitive damage”, and “declaratory relief acknowledging the Defendants鈥� wrongful conduct”.
Online, fans are speculating that the statement was written by AI, with one saying that a real lawyer would never advise a person to publish legal documents on social media. Another noted that Ru would be referred to as “Mr Charles” rather than her stage name, among other legal nuances.
No legal documents relating to the lawsuit have been filed at the time of writing this article.
After being crowned the winner of season 2 of Drag Race in 2010, RuPaul and World of Wonder have been attempting to distance the franchise from the disgraced performer, with many fans calling for her to be stripped of her title.
On episode 10 of Drag Race All Stars season 10, RuPaul crowned season 2 runner-up Raven the winner of the challenge, which many fans recognised as a swipe at Ross’ Sanchez persona.
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