Shangela Laquifa Wadley

Early life Chantaize Darius Jeremy Pierce was born on November 22, 1981, in Lamar County, Texas, and grew up in nearby Paris, Texas. He is the only child of Debra Sue Pierce (born 1959). His mother worked for the United States Army and traveled frequently for her job.

Pierce is biracial and of half-Saudi descent. His parents separated when he was very young, after which his father returned to Saudi Arabia. Pierce was subsequently raised by his mother and her large Southern Baptist family.

His grandfather worked as a cowboy on a cattle ranch and became the father figure in his life following his parents' separation. His grandfather died in 2000.

While attending high school, Pierce was a cheerleader and first experimented with drag by dressing in drag for creative English class projects. He later attended Southern Methodist University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. Pierce later recalled that he adopted the name "Shangela" after a friend spoke with a woman named Shangela while making a telemarketing call.

Shangela first performed publicly after Pierce choreographed a three-person drag performance to "Single Ladies" for a sober charity event in Los Angeles. When one of the performers withdrew shortly before the event, the remaining performers persuaded Pierce to take the vacant role. The performance impressed the club's promoter, who invited Shangela to return the following week. Pierce later described the booking as the beginning of his drag career.

In 2010, Shangela won the inaugural California Entertainer of the Year pageant, with Chad Michaels named first alternate.

RuPaul's Drag Race After five months of performing in Los Angeles, Shangela was selected to join the cast for season two of RuPaul's Drag Race, but was eliminated in the first episode. She later reauditioned and was invited back for season three, where she made it to the top five (although she placed sixth overall due to the return of Carmen Carrera one episode later). She also made cameo appearances in the show's fourth-season premiere and the "Snatch Game" episode of All Stars season two.

Shangela returned to compete on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, making her the first queen to compete on three separate seasons of the show. She made it to the season's finale and was considered a frontrunner for the crown, but was controversially eliminated after only receiving one vote from Thorgy Thor among the jury of previously eliminated queens. She subsequently tied third/fourth place with season-one winner Bebe Zahara Benet.

Shangela competed in the television special RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular. In June 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine placed Shangela second on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former RuPaul's Drag Race contestants.

We're Here Since 2020, Shangela has co-hosted We're Here on HBO alongside fellow Drag Race contestants Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka O'Hara. In December 2021, the series was renewed for a third season. The series has received acclaim from critics.

Other television and film appearances

Shangela appeared in Toddlers & Tiaras, in which she coached her 9-year-old goddaughter to compete in a beauty pageant. Shangela and other RuPaul's Drag race contestants including Trixie Mattel, Tammie Brown, and Manila Luzon, appeared in a Food and Drug Administration campaign against smoking.

Pierce had a non-drag role in a short film, Body of a Barbie (2011), which aired on BET and was a Top 7 National Finalist on the network's Lens on Talent series. In 2013, Shangela was featured in an ad for Facebook Home.

She was one of thirty drag queens featured in Miley Cyrus's 2015 VMA performance.

Shangela had a role in the 2016 comedy film Hurricane Bianca, directed by Matt Kugelman and starring fellow Drag Race contestants Bianca Del Rio and Willam Belli. She returned to reprise this role in the 2018 sequel, Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate.

In 2018, she was the commentator for the U.S. for the Eurovision Song Contest held in Lisbon, Portugal with Ross Mathews for Logo TV. The same year, she had a supporting role as a drag queen emcee in the film A Star Is Born, alongside Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, and Willam Belli.

Music and video On August 23, 2011, she released her first single "Call Me Laquifa". Her second single, "Werqin' Girl", was released on August 7, 2012. The music video for "Werqin' Girl" features appearances by Abby Lee Miller, Jenifer Lewis, and Yara Sofia. On March 15, 2018, the day of the All Stars 3 finale, Shangela released a new single titled "Pay Me" which features producer Ryan Skyy.

In 2013, Shangela appeared in the music video "Gone With the Wind Fabulous" by Kenya Moore. In 2018, Shangela featured on both the vocals and in the music video for Doll Hairs, a single released by Todrick Hall as part of his Forbidden visual album.

On August 14, 2013, Shangela, along with fellow drag queens Detox, Morgan McMichaels, Courtney Act, Willam Belli, and Raven, were featured in the lyric video for Lady Gaga's single "Applause".

In 2019, singer Ariana Grande featured Shangela's voice on the song "NASA" from her fifth studio album Thank U, Next.

Other ventures

Shangela is known for the catchphrase, "Halleloo", which the Los Angeles Times considered one of the "2010 Top Terms We Learned on Reality Television". Shangela's comedic persona is Laquifa, who entered the limelight during the eighth episode of season three, in which he won the "Ru Ha Ha" competition. Since being on Drag Race, Shangela has performed comedy as Laquifa in Downelink.com's "One Night Stand Up!" on LOGO. Shangela has performed in the Drag Queens of Comedy showcase alongside legends Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat and Coco Peru, as well as the Werq the World tour alongside several fellow Drag Race alumni, of which she is also the creative director.

Since appearing on Drag Race, Shangela launched "Say What Entertainment", a talent and management agency, in 2014.

Shangela was featured as one of OUT Magazine s "Most Compelling People of 2011".

Public advocacy Pierce in 2020Pierce has supported HIV/AIDS awareness and charitable initiatives throughout his career. In 2011, he appeared in Gilead Sciences' "Red Ribbon Runway" campaign alongside fellow RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Carmen Carrera, Delta Work, Manila Luzon, and Alexis Mateo. The dress he wore in the campaign was later auctioned by Logo in recognition of World AIDS Day, with proceeds benefiting the National Association of People with AIDS.

Pierce also participated in public health campaigns. In 2016, he joined fellow Drag Race contestants in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "This Free Life" anti-smoking campaign, which promoted tobacco-free lifestyles among LGBTQ young adults. Personal life Pierce is gay, He has lived in the basement of Jenifer Lewis' poolhouse for over a decade in Los Angeles, California.

Rape allegations On May 3, 2023, Pierce was accused of rape in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Former We're Here production assistant Daniel McGarrigle accused Pierce of supplying him with alcohol and assaulting him. Pierce denies the allegations in the lawsuit. Co-defendant Buckingham Television released a statement saying that they had conducted an investigation and concluded there was not sufficient evidence to support the allegations.

During mediation on January 16, 2024, McGarrigle dropped the lawsuit against Pierce; the parties reached a settlement in February.

On March 18, 2024, a Rolling Stone article was published that detailed five more alleged cases of sexual assault, spanning from 2012 to 2018.

Filmography Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 2010 Terriers Mikaela Episode: "Pimp Daddy" One Night Stand Up Herself / Host Episode: "Downelink.com's One Night Stand Up" 2010–2011 RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked Herself 11 episodes 2010–2012 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself Contestant: Season 2 – 12th PlaceContestant: Season 3 – 6th PlaceGuest Star: Season 4 (Episode "RuPocalypse Now!") 2011 Spring/Fall Dion Unsold pilot A Mann's World Snip Unsold pilot 2 Broke Girls Hallelujah Episode: "And the Hold-Up" The X-Files Annabelle Episode: "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster" 2016–2018 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars Herself Guest Star: Season 2 (Episode "All Stars Snatch Game")Contestant: Season 3 – 3rd/4th Place How May We Hate You? Trivia Announcer Unsold pilot RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular Herself Contestant – Winner 2020 Katy Keene Devereaux 3 episodes Lovecraft Country Drag Queen Episode: "Strange Case" 12 Dates of Christmas Herself Host Station 19 Ruby Red Slippers Episode: "We Are Family" 2020–2022 We're Here Herself Season 1-3 (20 episodes) 2021 The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Herself Guest 2022Good Morning America Herself Guest Dancing with the Stars Herself Contestant: Season 31 – 4th Place A Black Lady Sketch Show Arms Dealer Episode: "It's a New Day, Africa America!" 2023 Little Demon Queen Inichoochiama Episode: "Everybody's Dying for the Weekend"

Music videos Year Title Artist Ref. 2009 "Beat It" Fall Out Boy ft. John Mayer 2013 "Applause" (Lyric video) Lady Gaga 2013 "Woman's World" (Remix) Cher 2013 "Gone With The Wind Fabulous" Kenya Moore 2016 "Man Candy" Herself

Web series Year Title Role Notes 2012 Jennifer Lewis and Shangela Herself Produced by Lewis and The Collaboration Factory 2014 Girlfriend Intervention Recap Herself Produced by World of Wonder 2017 Squad Wars Herself Youtube Red original 2019 Werq the World Herself Produced by World of Wonder

Discography Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album US Dance UK Sales SCOT "Call Me Laquifa" 2011 — — — "Werqin' Girl (Professional)" 2012 — — — "Uptown Fish" 2015 — — — "Deck A Ho (Mitch Ferrino Mix)" (Bob the Drag Queen feat. Shangela) 2017 — — — "Pay Me" 2018 — — — "Kitty Girl" (RuPaul feat. BeBe Zahara Benet, Kennedy Davenport, Shangela & Trixie Mattel) 18 44 33 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances Title Year Other artist(s) Album "Doll Hairs" 2018 Todrick Hall Forbidden "Fabulous French" (uncredited vocal) Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Anthony Ramos A Star Is Born "NASA" (uncredited vocal) 2019 Ariana Grande Thank U, Next

Awards and nominations Year Award giving body Category Work Results Ref 2018 WOWIE Awards Best Red Carpet LookHerself 2019 Queerty Awards Drag Royalty Shorty Awards Best LGBTQ+ Account 2021 Queerty Awards Innovator 2023 Peabody Award Entertainment We're Here