James Lee Williams, the inaugural “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK” winner and recognized globally by their stage identify The Vivienne, has died. The British performer was 32.
The Vivienne’s demise was confirmed Sunday by their supervisor, Simon Jones. As of Monday, a explanation for demise had not been publicly confirmed.
“It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved James Lee Williams – The Vivienne, has passed this weekend,” Jones wrote on X, previously Twitter. “James 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.”
In a follow-up assertion, Jones mentioned he was “heartbroken and devastated” by Williams’ demise, including: “No one has made me laugh in my life as much as Viv did. Their comic genius and quick wit was like no other.”
Amongst these additionally paying tribute was Williams’ former husband, David Ludford.
“My heart is literally shattered, I feel so out of place I feel lost, I feel numb,” Ludford wrote on Instagram alongside a carousel of pictures.
By Monday, RuPaul acknowledged Williams’ demise early Monday by sharing a throwback picture on Instagram.
“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,” he wrote.
John Lamparski through Getty Pictures
A local of Colwyn Bay, Wales, Williams rose to prominence in 2015 once they had been appointed the U.Ok. ambassador for “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which was then in its seventh season. They’d later acknowledge that their drag identify was supposed as a tribute to late designer Vivienne Westwood.
In 2019, Williams competed on the premiere season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK,” finally successful the competitors sequence. Although they had been primarily based in England, they endeared themselves to American viewers in 2022 as a contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” the place they got here in seventh.
“I came out quite early. Humor was my defense at school,” Williams recalled of their early years in a 2023 interview with The Mirror, a U.Ok. publication. “I wasn’t bullied, because I was the funny kid. I’d turn up with a Louis Vuitton bag. Often my accessories would be confiscated. It wasn’t all bad. I was outside the headmaster’s office and another teacher told me I looked fabulous.”
Lately, Williams started carving out a profession in musical theater, starring in British productions of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” In 2022, they made historical past once they turned the primary drag performer to seem on the British competitors sequence “Dancing on Ice,” the place they got here in third.
As for the current rise in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment worldwide, significantly towards the drag neighborhood, Williams mentioned, “It comes from nowhere.”
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“There’s this whole rhetoric now about drag queens grooming children, and [it all comes from] these crazy politicians with no one else to point the finger at but ― yet again ― the LGBTQ+ community,” they informed HuffPost UK in 2023. “People have taken their children to see drag queens for years ― whether they know it or not. At panto, or you’ve been sat watching ‘Mrs Doubtfire,’ and it’s all OK then.”
