Disgraced RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2 winner Tyra Sanchez has come under fire for the distasteful jokes he made after the death of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne.

Tyra, who now goes under the name James Ross, reignited his online feud with The Vivienne five years later — mere hours after her death was announced to the public.

The Vivienne died on Jan. 5, 2025, as announced by her publicist and manager Simon Jones on social media.

As fans paid tribute to The Vivienne, real name James Lee Williams, James Ross used the moment to circle back to a previous feud they shared, as reported by Collider.

In July 2020, The Vivienne called out Tyra on X. “Bet Tyra was fuming when she realized Netflix spoiled the win, too,” the Welsh-born drag queen noted, in reference to her series of the franchise appearing on Netflix just after the original BBC airing. “Sorry, gal,” he added, “you tried, though.”

After The Vivienne’s death, James reposted The Vivienne’s previous comment early Sunday evening with the response, “Yet it doesn’t compare to the fumes of the crematorium.”

When his distasteful comment was called out, the former reality TV winner doubled down on his unpleasant comments. “She’s dead. Rotting,” he wrote.

“Sending me all the hate in the world won’t bring her back. But do as you must. Because of you [all], the tweet has reached over 25k individuals. Thanks for the much-needed attention that I oh so desperately needed.”

The callous use of The Vivienne’s death to get attention by Tyra Sanchez causes outrage among the RuPaul’s Drag Race fandom. Performers who found fame on the reality competition show quickly clapped back at Tyra Sanchez, with many declaring RuPaul should uncrown her.

Tyra’s old RuPaul’s Drag Race sparring partner made a simple comment in response on social media, simply stating, “Somehow she’s become even worse.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Kandy Muse was especially angry with Tyra. She wrote a response on social media, calling Tyra a “disgusting person.” RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 and All Stars Season 8 finalist has recently appeared on Season 2 of House of Villains.

I’ve defended you for years, but now you can absolutely go f**k yourself and if our paths were to ever cross it’s absolutely on sight b***h, it’s not a threat it’s a promise. You disgusting person.

Kandy Muse later shared her own tribute to The Vivienne on their Instagram page. “You f*****g rockstar, you angel. I am in utter shock, devastated and absolutely heartbroken, one of the sweetest person I’ve ever gotten to meet and spend time with – you kept me up while I was at my lowest in life on tour with your bright energy and smile, I’ll miss you friend. rest easy you beauty.”

Tyra Sanchez’s Controversial History Throughout RuPaul’s Drag Race

James Ross (Tyra Sanchez) rose to fame as the winner of Season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2010. As Tyra Sanchez, she was a controversial win because, despite her talent, she frequently fought with her co-stars. James retired his drag persona in 2020 and has since rebooted the character, although mainly for their OnlyFans account.

This is not the first scandal James has been embroiled in. Since winning the show, James has become a persona non grata by the production company behind World of Wonder. James’ first scandal as Tyra came in 2016 after she told a fan to end her life because she was called “annoying.”

Back in 2017, the queen appeared to threaten Drag Race stars Phi Phi O’Hara and Tatianna in an exploitative video. Queerty reported that O’Hara (real name Jaremi Carey) complained to organizers of DragCon 2018 (via Gay Times) that they should not be hosting a violent individual.

• In response, James warned his followers not to attend the annual convention. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he shared.
• James was banned from that year’s DragCon, with queens and fans fearing that the performer could be plotting something dangerous.
• James posted an email sent to him from World of Wonder, who produces RuPaul’s Drag Race, asking for an apology. “This apology has to make it clear that you do not condone violence against another person (including other queens) and that you will in no way encourage others to act violently (or otherwise inappropriately)” the email stated.
• Although he initially refused to apologize, he later shared an apology, and blamed his actions on “judgment, criticism, and opinions” he received when appearing on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

“Many times, I expressed myself without thinking things through,” Ross wrote on X, which has since been deleted. “I reacted out of fear and with anger. Neglecting the fact that I was wrong, I unleashed my anger upon anyone who crossed me.”

Inside Tyra Sanchez’s Many Feuds On RuPaul’s Drag Race

Tyra Sanchez’s first public feud happened on her series of RuPaul’s Drag Race with Tatiana. She spoke to The Gay Times in 2018 about Tyra being removed from the DragCon lineup. She felt that anyone in the public eye should try to be a “good influence.”

I think that with the way things are in the world right now, we need positivity, and we definitely don’t need to take after the grossness happening. Drag queens are supposed to be fun! They’re supposed to take your mind off all the drama.

Their most famous feud happened between James and Morgan McMichaels. In 2017, Ross posted a fake obituary of her fellow Season 2 queen Morgan McMicheals. When fans clicked the link posted on her Facebook, it led to Tyra’s Soundcloud.

The feud between Morgan and Tyra came about after they made comments towards Raven, who is close to Morgan. While the reality TV winner eventually apologized for posting Morgan’s fake obituary, the fandom never quite forgave her behavior.

Speaking to Joseph Shepherd on the Sissy That Talk Show podcast, James Ross blamed Michelle Visage for their aggression and why the fandom turned against them.

“Michelle got hired for season three, and on her press tour at every stop she made sure to say she didn’t think I deserved to win, and that’s where #RavenWasRobbed was created. If you go back and watch her old interviews on YouTube, every single interview she states that if she was a judge I’d have never won.”

The Tab reports that Tyra said Michelle’s dislike of her was “heartbreaking to hear,” especially as the judge was nice to her face.

RuPaul’s Drag Race
season 17 will air every Friday on MTV.