October 13, 2023
'Drag Race' Star, Taylor Swift 'Illusionist' Jade Jolie Announces She's Moving 'Forward with My Transition'
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
"Drag Race" Season 5 contestant and "Boulet Brothers Dragula" star and "Taylor Swift impersonator" Jade Jolie came out as trans and announced her transition all in the same social media post, Entertainment Weekly reported.
Jolie "made the announcement Sunday," EW detailed, with a tweet that informed her followers that she was "Deciding to choose myself and move forward with my transition."
"Many of Jade's 'Drag Race' sisters responded to her with messages of support," EW detailed, "including Mrs. Kasha Davis, Tatianna, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, and Monica Beverly Hillz, Jade's season 5 sister who became the first queen to come out as trans while competing on the show (Kylie Sonique Love previously came out on season 2 of the show, several episodes after her elimination)."
The article went on to recall, "Jade first rose to national attention on 'Drag Race' in 2013, finishing season 5 in eighth place after being eliminated on episode 6.
"The Florida native reunited with RuPaul as a guest star on Mama Ru's 2020 Netflix comedy AJ and the Queen, before joining the cast of The Boulet Brothers' Dragula season 4 as a competitor in 2021."
Jade was also featured in Taylor Swift's "cameo-heavy 'You Need to Calm Down' music video in 2019," EW noted, "in which she portrayed a Swift lookalike alongside several other Drag Race stars dressed as Swift's pop diva peers."
EW recalled that the drag star "inadvertently made headlines at the 2019 MTV VMAs, when John Travolta appeared to mistake her for the real Swift when presenting the 'You Need to Calm Down' collaborators with the Video of the Year prize."
See who else offered their love and congratulations, below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
