The drag artist formerly known as Tyra Sanchez has reached a new low with her disrespectful comments on social media following the tragic news of Jiggly’s death…
On Sunday, April 27, news of the death of Jiggly Caliente devastated the Drag Race fandom. Jiggly, whose real name was Bianca Castro-Arabejo, passed away at the age of 44, just days after undergoing a right leg amputation following a severe infection.
As tribute flooded social media from devastated fans and friends remembering Jiggly as one of the realest ones, one tribute from a Drag Race alumni stood out. Jaremi Carey (previously known by his drag persona Phi Phi O’Hara), who appeared on season 4 of RuPaul’s Drag Race alongside Jiggly, posted a beautiful message on X after the news broke paying tribute to a dear friend. In Jaremi’s post he wrote about his final moments with Jiggly, recalled joyous moments with his best friend, and shared how incredibly proud he was of Jiggly and the woman that she grew to be.
“I hope you know how proud I am of the woman you grew up to be and the spaces and hearts you touched. You have been a fighter your entire life and you will always be remembered for living life authentically and truthful,” Jaremi wrote.
Jaremi’s words brought comfort to many on social media and many in the fandom struggling with the unexpected news.
Hours after Jaremi posted his beautiful tribute to Jiggly, Tyra (also known as James William Ross and formerly known by the drag persona Tyra Sanchez) responded to Jeremy’s X post. The disgraced season 2 winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race wrote: “Mwauh!… NO LEG.” Tyra also include a link to her single “My Name Is James.”
A new low that shocked even those who previously supported the drag artist and their past controversial actions.
As shocked fans began to attack Tyra for the disgraceful comment about Jiggly, Jaremi responded in the early hours of Monday, April 28, with grace and strength, writing on X:
“I wanna put this out there… Tyra is disruptive, sad, & alone in this world, and for reason…she built the desolate world she deserves, BUT her inability to show kindness, empathy or a whisper of class has nothing to do with her race PLS Don’t fill my mentions with racist remarks especially in mine or Jiggly’s name I’ve blocked and hid her response to keep the focus on my best friend, pls do the same.”
Tyra’s tweet following Jiggly’s death has many Drag Race fans once again called on RuPaul and World Of Wonder (the production company behind the show) to strip Tyra of her title and permanently cut her ties with the franchise for good.
After all, this is not the first time that Tyra’s attacks have targeted a tragic death in the Drag Race world. On January 5, 2025, it was announced that The Vivienne had tragically passed away and within hours of the announcement – while queens all over the world were publicly sharing their grief of an immeasurable loss – Tyra had gone back five years in Twitter mentions to find an old tweet from The Vivienne, and responded writing: “Yet it doesn’t compare to the fumes of the crematoriam.”
Notably season 13 queen Kandy Muse replied to the post, saying, “I’ve defended you for years but now you can absolutely go fuck yourself and if our path were to ever cross it’s absolutely on sight bitch, it’s not a threat it’s a promise. you disgusting person.” Tyra responded, saying the threat had been received and for Kandy to “prepare your funeral.”
Days later Ross posted a video to their X account of a crematorium with an on-screen caption that read,” songs I would play if I owned a crematorium” while Alicia Keys’ “This Girl Is On Fire” played.
How should Drag Race respond to the controversies?
There is no denying that Tyra’s comments surrounding The Vivienne and Jiggly Caliente’s death are disgraceful. But, where do we go from here? Where can we go from here?
Controversies like these give us the chance to take a critical look at how we allow people with public platforms to deal with the mistakes they make, and how they respond to criticism for their actions. Currently, Tyra doesn’t seem remorseful about any of their past actions, including the vile responses to the deaths of both The Vivienne and Jiggly Caliente. It’s a continuing pattern that we’ve seen him follow over the past 15 years, and behaviour that fellow season 2 queen Tatianna tried to warn us about back in 2010.
Only time will tell if “Tyra Sanchez” is stripped of their title, as countless fans and queens are demanding of the show. Many fans and queens continue to argue that the behaviour demonstrated over the last 15 years from Tyra does not reflect the core ideals of inclusivity that Drag Race tries to maintain on and off of the show. But, it’s not always so simple to erase a moment.
Some people on social media have called on fans to simply ignore Tyra. But, it’s always not always possible to ignore the extreme. As a publication that has heavily covered Drag Race throughout the years, IN Magazine has definitely refused to cover some of Tyra’s actions. We’ve also opted to cover others. Today we’ve decided to respond and to call out Tyra’s hateful actions because people should know… and they should be outraged. We are also asking ourselves: how do we put an end to the cycle?
How do you think RuPaul and World Of Wonder should respond to Tyra? Do they owe it to the fandom? Or should they respond at all?
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