RuPaul's Drag Race winner The Vivienne died from complications related to ketamine, family says

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 6:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

The British resistance creator The Vivienne died from cardiac apprehension that was caused by taking ketamine, their household told the BBC connected Monday. 

The victor of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, whose existent sanction was James Lee Williams, died successful January astatine property 32. Their sister, Chanel Williams, told the BBC her household is inactive "completely devastated," but wished to uncover the origin of decease to assistance others. 

"If we tin assistance rise consciousness of the dangers of this cause and assistance radical who whitethorn beryllium dealing with ketamine addiction past thing affirmative volition travel from this implicit tragedy," she said. 

Williams's publicist, Simon Jones, confirmed the origin of decease successful posts connected Instagram and X. 

In a abstracted statement, the British substance maltreatment foundation Adferiad said it volition co-ordinate with the household connected a run aimed at fostering speech about, and reducing the stigma of, cause use. 

Open astir struggles

Born successful Wales and raised successful Liverpool, Williams's prima archetypal roseate aft becoming a U.K. resistance ambassador for the American TV series RuPaul's Drag Race, leading to a cameo connected that show's eighth season. After winning the amusement successful 2019, they returned for the seventh play of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in 2022.

Williams aboriginal became the archetypal resistance performer to vie connected the fig skating competition Dancing connected Ice, coming successful third, and besides released music. Williams was well-known for their humour and content of U.S. President Donald Trump and, passim their career, was often unfastened astir their struggles with addiction and substance abuse. 

Their resistance sanction was inspired by manner decorator Vivienne Westwood, whose covering Williams would often wear. Hundreds attended a Liverpool vigil soon aft their death, with galore wearing greenish to honour their signifier relation in The Wizard of Oz 's West End tally and U.K. circuit successful 2024. 

An inquest into the decease volition instrumentality spot successful precocious June arsenic a post-mortem introspection revealed an "unnatural origin of death," the BBC antecedently reported.