Latest news with #HurricaneBianca:FromRussiaWithHate
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Shangela accuser Eric Poff shares why it took nearly 8 years to come forward
Eric Poff, the accuser behind the latest sexual assault lawsuit filed against celebrity drag entertainer Shangela, is ready to share his side of the story. "This whole experience feels like I won a lottery that I didn't want to sign up for," Poff tells Out, "that I never asked to join." On Monday, Poff filed a complaint against Shangela — whose real name is Chantaize Darius Jeremy Pierce, informally known as DJ — in the state of New York with detailed allegations of sexual assault and rape. Twenty-four hours later, Poff, who is also known by his adult film star name Dakota Payne, shared his story exclusively with Out. Poff and Pierce met in 2017 while filming Hurricane Bianca: From Russia With Hate. Poff was working as a production assistant, and Pierce starred in the movie as an actor. "In working on the set, I got to know the cast and crew," Poff recalls. "A select number of the crew and cast had gone out a handful of times out in Hell's Kitchen to little gay bars, post-shooting hangouts. It wasn't until production had wrapped and I'd gone out to hang out with DJ one-on-one that this night happened." Leading up to that night out, Poff describes having a "friendly co-worker" relationship with Pierce. "I'm a fan of Drag Race [and] I was a fan of DJ's, so I felt comfortable. I thought I felt safe, hanging out with someone who I thought that I knew based on limited experience working with them and having seen them on TV." As detailed in Monday's complaint, Poff had "one or two drinks" before reportedly losing consciousness. Poff's next memory, as he recalls, took place inside a hotel room while he was anally penetrated by a man he did not know. Pierce, according to Poff, watched it unfold from the corner of the room. The complaint goes on to allege that "Pierce then anally penetrated Plaintiff without his consent." "I don't think I was meant to gain any kind of consciousness," Poff says. "I don't think that I was meant to see anything or have any memory of experience. I think I was meant to have gone out, wake up, and be like, 'Oh, you were crazy, hahaha, that happened. Goodbye,' like he's done with so many other fans." Pierce's defense, Poff says, alleges that the two "went out that night, met up with someone, had a threesome, and joked about it the next morning, and then Dakota suddenly just asked me for payment." That isn't Poff's recollection of the events. "I don't have any contact in my phone where it's like, 'Oh, remember that time we had a threesome with DJ.' There is no person in my life. I have no recollection. We did not meet up with anyone that night. That didn't happen. This John Doe person, I just have a recollection of what he looked like and what was being done when I did come to. He was not there in the morning when we allegedly woke up and joked around about it. There was no third person, there was no talks of, 'Oh, wasn't that crazy?' None of that." Following the alleged assault, Poff recalled the experience with mutual friends in an attempt "to let people know what happened." However, Poff believes that things kept being swept under the rug. He often heard advice like,"You just need to hold your head up high and be ready to work in environments with people like that." After years of silence and ruminating on the experience, running into Pierce at a bar in West Hollywood in 2024 was a turning point for Poff. "I was just festering and frustrated and felt powerless," Poff says. "I just happened to see him, and as calmly and as collected as I could, I went and I let him know how I felt." Pierce's reaction pushed Poff to share his story. "It was the dismissal. It was the change of look in his eyes when he looked up from his table, surely thinking this was going to be another fan encounter, someone singing his praise. He recognized me and the shift in his face ... and then how easily it was for him to just say, 'I'm sorry you feel that way.' And the people at his table wouldn't even look up. They wouldn't look at me. Eyes down the whole time. The whole thing felt so awful. I just felt compelled to make a video because that's the only thing that was in my control." Pierce first rose to fame in 2010 as Shangela on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race, quickly becoming an iconic figure on the reality competition show. In the years since, Shangela has appeared on Dancing With the Stars, A Star Is Born, Hurricane Bianca, We're Here, and many more television shows. Poff's lawyer, James A. Vagnini, says it's time for Pierce to take accountability. "I think it's very telling that [Pierce's] response has been to go on attack. It's very rare that I've had a case where it's just been one survivor that's come forward and nobody else has ever said, 'Me too.' [That is] the whole basis of the Me Too movement. It's just a way to shield and put more fear into people into not coming forward and in this situation." Vagnini also claims that "DJ and his legal team are using politics and the community as a weapon back. 'This is damaging to the community...' Well, what's damaging to the community is the fact that there's a predator running around drugging people. There's a pattern of it that now dates back to 2014 from the people we've spoken to." This is why, he says, big defense lawyers are brought in — "because they've got to limit the amount of exposure that their client has and keep as many people from coming forward. Taking accountability, which is the right thing to do, is really never an option, no matter the amount of evidence I've got, no matter going all the way in a legal claim. It is the fear of the floodgates opening that forces them into this position because otherwise there could be a conversation out here. There could have been a conversation had in L.A. when Eric ran into him and opened the door." At the end of the day, Pierce is "the only one who knows what he's done already," says Vagnini. "But there's a lot of other people out there, and there will be more to come, as you see in the next steps." Vagnini claims that he's made contact with other survivors in other cities who have shared similar stories, "including a John Doe being in the room when they wake up. I just really want to address that, as a member of the community, they're doing a bigger disservice to the community by not taking some level of accountability and ownership in this. This isn't a drag issue. This is a human issue. Men, women every day go through experiences like this, unfortunately. To mask it in sort of what we're doing to the community and drag in particular is really, really offensive." Pierce and his lawyer have not responded to Out's request for comment. Meanwhile, Poff remains steadfast. "I understand how it upsets people. And trust me, I did not want to do this. As someone who also does drag, as someone who has performed in adult entertainment, I don't want to have to be this person to call him out, but it seems like I'm the only one that can." "We have to hold our own accountable," Poff says. Minutes before this Out interview with Eric Poff was published, Shangela shared a new statement on Instagram claiming to be "falsely accused in the most heinous ways." The drag star added: "I'm advised to stay silent, and I'm doing my best to continue on without engaging in a back and forth with dishonest people seeking money or a moment."
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Drag Race' alum Shangela accused of 2017 sexual assault in new lawsuit
Darius Jeremy 'DJ' Pierce, known by his drag persona Shangela, has been accused of sexually assaulting a crew member of a movie he was filming in 2017, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in a New York court. The complaint naming Pierce is the latest accusation against the popular 'RuPaul's Drag Race' alum, who has denied other allegations of sexual assault, including one filed in 2023 that was settled last year. The new suit claims Pierce, 43, and an unidentified John Doe broke New York City's Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which gives survivors of alleged gender-motivated violence, including sexual abuse, nine years from the date of the incident to file civil claims. Andrew Brettler, a lawyer for Pierce, did not respond to a request for comment. Pierce could not be reached for comment. Plaintiff Eric Poff was an art assistant for the 2018 film 'Hurricane Bianca: From Russia With Hate,' while it filmed in New York City in the fall of 2017. Pierce was among the actors in the movie, which starred fellow 'Drag Race' alum Bianca Del Rio. During a night out, Poff, then 28, went to a Manhattan bar with Pierce and consumed one or two drinks, according to his complaint filed with New York County Supreme Court. Poff alleges in his suit that his drink was ''spiked with a drug' because he had 'no memory of events between consuming the drink and becoming semi-conscious in a hotel room.' Another man was in the hotel room, along with Poff and Pierce, according to the suit. While in the room, Poff 'started to fade into consciousness' and 'was bent over a bed being anally penetrated without consent by John Doe with Pierce watching from the corner of the room,' the complaint says. Pierce also anally penetrated Poff 'without his consent,' and then later sent Poff money via PayPal, according to the suit. Poff was unavailable for a phone interview Monday, but he said in a statement to NBC News that he came forward because sexual assault remains a 'particularly taboo subject' in the LGBTQ community. He added that anti-sexual violence laws that allow people to pursue litigation against their accused years later are important, and New York's law gave him time to process what he says happened. 'I am coming forward because I have the ability and resources to do so, knowing many other victims cannot,' Poff said, adding, 'I will not be deterred by the Defendant's popularity or potential backlash.' New York City's Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law typically gives alleged victims nine years to file a claim, but in December 2022, a temporary window was open permitting claims stemming from older allegations; that window is set to close at the end of this month. The decades-old law has been cited as the basis for recent complaints filed against other high-profile defendants, including music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs and luxury real estate brothers Oren and Tal Alexander. Poff's lawyer, James Vagnini, said Pierce is seeking a jury trial and damages to be determined at that time. Vagnini added that Poff's memories were 'foggy' since he was not fully conscious, but similar claims against Pierce that have become public in recent years compelled him to come forward. Poff continues to work in the entertainment industry, Vagnini added, and said that speaking up against a major drag performer such as Pierce, who was on multiple seasons of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' became the first drag artist on ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars' and has been in movies such as 2018's 'A Star Is Born,' was fraught with risk to his own career. 'We shouldn't let anyone off the hook because of who they are,' Vagnini said. 'There are people coming forward, and it shows that you can be raped no matter what your gender may be.' In 2023, a former production assistant on the hit HBO show 'We're Here,' which features drag queens in real-life situations, filed a lawsuit accusing then-series star Pierce of raping him in a hotel room following an after-work party three years earlier. Pierce said in a statement at the time that the allegations were 'entirely meritless,' and 'perpetuate damaging stereotypes that are harmful not only to me but also to my entire community.' That suit, filed by Daniel McGarrigle, was dismissed last year after a settlement was reached, Rolling Stone and others reported. The terms were undisclosed, and Pierce at the time did not respond to requests for comment. Last March, Rolling Stone interviewed and reported on multiple people accusing Pierce of either sexually assaulting them or attempting to have sex with them when they were too inebriated to consent. In a response to Rolling Stone, Brettler, the lawyer for Pierce, called the allegations 'false and unsupported by any evidence or reliable witness testimony,' and said there were 'significant problems with purported accusers' accounts.' He added that Pierce also 'adamantly denies ever engaging in nonconsensual sex.' Pierce, who has 1.4 million followers on Instagram, is set to appear in the forthcoming film 'Magic Hour,' directed and starring Katie Aselton, according to the movie's IMDB credits. This article was originally published on
NBC News
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
'Drag Race' alum Shangela accused of 2017 sexual assault in new lawsuit
Darius Jeremy 'DJ' Pierce, known by his drag persona Shangela, has been accused of sexually assaulting a crew member of a movie he was filming in 2017, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in a New York court. The complaint naming Pierce is the latest accusation against the popular 'RuPaul's Drag Race' alum, who has denied other allegations of sexual assault, including one filed in 2023 that was settled last year. The new suit claims Pierce, 43, and an unidentified John Doe broke New York City's Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which gives survivors of alleged gender-motivated violence, including sexual abuse, nine years from the date of the incident to file civil claims. Andrew Brettler, a lawyer for Pierce, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Pierce could not be immediately reached for comment. Plaintiff Eric Poff was an art assistant for the 2018 film 'Hurricane Bianca: From Russia With Hate,' while it filmed in New York City in the fall of 2017. Pierce was among the actors in the movie, which starred fellow 'Drag Race' alum Bianca Del Rio. During a night out, Poff, then 28, went to a Manhattan bar with Pierce and consumed one or two drinks, according to his complaint filed with New York County Supreme Court. Poff alleges in his suit that his drink was ''spiked with a drug' because he had 'no memory of events between consuming the drink and becoming semi-conscious in a hotel room.' Another man was in the hotel room, along with Poff and Pierce, according to the suit. While in the room, Poff 'started to fade into consciousness' and 'was bent over a bed being anally penetrated without consent by John Doe with Pierce watching from the corner of the room,' the complaint says. Pierce also anally penetrated Poff 'without his consent,' and then later sent Poff money via PayPal, according to the suit. Poff was unavailable for a phone interview Monday, but he said in a statement to NBC News that he came forward because sexual assault remains a 'particularly taboo subject' in the LGBTQ community. He added that anti-sexual violence laws that allow people to pursue litigation against their accused years later are important, and New York's law gave him time to process what he says happened. 'I am coming forward because I have the ability and resources to do so, knowing many other victims cannot,' Poff said, adding, 'I will not be deterred by the Defendant's popularity or potential backlash.' New York City's Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law typically gives alleged victims nine years to file a claim, but in December 2022, a temporary window was open permitting claims stemming from older allegations; that window is set to close at the end of this month. The decades-old law has been cited as the basis for recent complaints filed against other high-profile defendants, including music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs and luxury real estate brothers Oren and Tal Alexander. Poff's lawyer, James Vagnini, said Pierce is seeking a jury trial and damages to be determined at that time. Vagnini added that Poff's memories were 'foggy' since he was not fully conscious, but similar claims against Pierce that have become public in recent years compelled him to come forward. Poff continues to work in the entertainment industry, Vagnini added, and said that speaking up against a major drag performer such as Pierce, who was on multiple seasons of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' became the first drag artist on ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars' and has been in movies such as 2018's 'A Star Is Born,' was fraught with risk to his own career. 'We shouldn't let anyone off the hook because of who they are,' Vagnini said. 'There are people coming forward, and it shows that you can be raped no matter what your gender may be.' In 2023, a former production assistant on the hit HBO show 'We're Here,' which features drag queens in real-life situations, filed a lawsuit accusing then-series star Pierce of raping him in a hotel room following an after-work party three years earlier. Pierce said in a statement at the time that the allegations were 'entirely meritless,' and 'perpetuate damaging stereotypes that are harmful not only to me but also to my entire community.' That suit, filed by Daniel McGarrigle, was dismissed last year after a settlement was reached, Rolling Stone and others reported. The terms were undisclosed, and Pierce at the time did not respond to requests for comment. Last March, Rolling Stone interviewed and reported on multiple people accusing Pierce of either sexually assaulting them or attempting to have sex with them when they were too inebriated to consent. In a response to Rolling Stone, Brettler, the lawyer for Pierce, called the allegations 'false and unsupported by any evidence or reliable witness testimony,' and said there were 'significant problems with purported accusers' accounts.' He added that Pierce also 'adamantly denies ever engaging in nonconsensual sex.' Pierce, who has 1.4 million followers on Instagram, is set to appear in the forthcoming film 'Magic Hour,' directed and starring Katie Aselton, according to the movie's IMDB credits.
