A close pal of The Vivienne has revealed the horrific abuse endured by the drag queen in the days before their tragic passing.
The Vivienne, whose real name was James Lee Williams, was found dead by their heartbroken father and stepmother on Sunday, January 5, with officers attending an address in Chorlton-by-Backford, near Chester, at 12.22 pm that day.
It is thought that the Drag Race icon, who was only 32-years-old at their time of death, had died a day or two prior to being discovered. While the cause of death has not been disclosed, authorities have stated there were “no suspicious circumstances” surrounding the incident.
In the lead-up to this heartbreaking event, The Vivienne had been dazzling audiences with their stellar performances on stage.
Notably, they took on the role of The Childcatcher in a national tour of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and appeared in a Boxing Day special of ‘Blankety Blank’, emulating the legendary Lily Savage.
Regrettably, following the broadcast of the pre-recorded show, The Vivienne was subjected to vile homophobic attacks online. In response, Britain’s Got Talent’s famed drag act Myra DuBois, whose offstage name is Gareth Joyner, has condemned those responsible for the onslaught of abuse towards The Vivienne during their last weeks, calling on the public to “challenge transphobia when they encounter it”.
BGT semi-finalist Myra took to Instagram and penned: “I don’t know how The Vivienne left us, and I will be respecting the family request for privacy by not trying to find out, or by fuelling rumours. I do know that after appearing on Blankety Blank over Christmas they were bombarded with a slew of homophobic abuse.
“I also know that the comments sections on posts announcing their passing are filling up with comments like ‘one less’ and ‘rest in hell’. I need you to know this. I want you to acknowledge this. To me, to your colleagues, to your family. I want you to acknowledge it when there are no LGBTQ+ people in the room with you.
“You can’t just post how sad you are when LGBTQ+ people die. I want you to ask if you’re doing everything you can to keep all LGBTQ+ people alive.”
They went on to say: “Do you make an effort to use pronouns that might not immediately make sense to you? Do you post comments of love so they drown out comments of hate? Do you oppose political parties who openly discriminate LBGTQ+ people even if they align with your beliefs elsewhere?
“I don’t care how you answer, it’s between you and yourself. But in the last few years, I have buried so many friends, all of them LGBTQ+, all of them taken too soon. And it is NOT because of the ‘lifestyle choice’. It’s the burden of shame. Society murders queers, and I am so, so angry.”
Following the tragic passing of The Vivienne, their co-star Crystal has written a heartfelt opinion piece for The Metro.
In the article, Crystal describes The Vivienne as “effortlessly funny, whip-smart” and expresses deep shock at the loss: “It has shocked me. Losing a friend so young is a real gut punch – it doesn’t feel real. But the shock and sadness is heightened because I know her final days were spent on the receiving end of abuse and homophobia.”
They also highlighted a worrying trend: “The pile-on Viv received points to a dangerous trend in recent years of the mask slipping, and the public feeling more emboldened to shame queer people simply for being themselves.”
The announcement of The Vivienne’s death was made by their publicist, who released a statement saying: “It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved James Lee Williams – The Vivienne, has passed this weekend. James was an incredibly loved, warm-hearted and amazing person. Their family are heartbroken at the loss of their son, brother and uncle.”
The statement continued: “They are so proud of the wonderful things James achieved in their life and career. We will not be releasing any further details. We please ask that James’s family are given the time and privacy they now need to process and grieve.”
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