Shangela Was Accused of Rape by an HBO Production Assistant- Rape charges have been made against Darius Jeremy “DJ” Pierce, who goes by the name Shangela on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Daniel McGarrigle, who used to work as a production assistant on HBO’s We’re Here, has sued the drag queen, saying that he attacked him while they were shooting the first season of the show in 2020.
Wednesday, the suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. McGarrigle wants Pierce and Buckingham Television, the company that made the show, to pay her unspecified damages. On the other hand, the drag queen has said that the claims are false.
Shangela Was Accused of Rape by an HBO Production Assistant.
McGarrigle, 39, said it happened in a hotel room in Monroe, Louisiana, in February 2020, after a party. He says that after a few drinks, Pierce asked him to come to his room to help him get ready for his early trip. McGarrigle didn’t feel good, so Pierce told him to stay in his room until he did.
According to the lawsuit, when he woke up in the evening, his pants were down. McGarrigle says he felt Pierce on the bottom half of his body, where he was rubbing his penis against his buttocks and trying to get into Pierce’s anus.
He tried to fight back, but he felt ‘extremely weak.’ The production helper didn’t tell the police or Buckingham TV about the sexual assault right away because he was afraid he would lose his job. In the end, he gave up the job in 2021.
McGarrigle is now asking for compensation for ‘past and future medical costs, past and future lost earnings and earning capacity, pain, suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, and embarrassment.’
Shangela Denies Allegations
After the case, Pierce made a statement in which he denied the claims. The 42-year-old reality star said, “I can’t even begin to describe how hurt and disgusted I am by these completely false accusations. They hurt me as a person and spread harmful beliefs that hurt not only me but also my whole community.
“An outside review of this angry person’s claims found that they were completely false. No one should be fooled. It is not based on facts or the law, and it will not work.”
“As a hardworking and outspoken drag performer for more than a decade, I know I’m not the only one fighting ignorance, bigotry, and prejudice, all of which led to the filing of this lawsuit. “That’s why I’m going to fight this lawsuit, even though it has no basis in fact. I won’t let it hurt me or the people I care about, or hurt the things we all stand for,” he said.
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HBO Puts Out a Statement
Buckingham Television and HBO, which made the show, have said that they did get a complaint about the event in the summer of 2021. “The production company for We’re Here, Buckingham Television, got a complaint in late summer 2021 about something that was said to have happened in early 2020.”
“Both Buckingham and HBO care a lot about the safety and health of the people who work on our shows. Buckingham started a review right away. The review found that there was not enough proof to back up these claims.”
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