Tyra Sanchez, one of the more controversial queens to emerge out of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’, kept that tradition going after she was arrested in Atlanta.
Tyra Sanchez is back in the headlines again. The RPDR alumna, 32, was arrested on Thursday, August 20, for vandalizing an apartment complex with graffiti according to a report from TMZ. The now retired drag queen (real name James William Ross IV) is facing one count of criminal damage to property after authorities responded to a vandalism call around 10:30am local time in an apartment complex.
It was there that the security guard said that they saw someone spray “Don’t Move Here Ever” on the side of the building while another witness claimed they saw the suspect in the act of tagging the wall. They were able to identify that the person doing this was James and he was subsequently placed in Fulton County Jail. He allegedly lived at the complex he tagged and didn’t pay rent there for months.
Here are 5 more things you should know about Tyra.
1: Reality Royalty. Tyra first rose to fame on the second season of RPDR in 2010. She consistently performed well on the Emmy-winning series and joined an elite group of competitors like Bianca Del Rio, Aquaria and Nina Flowers for never ending up in the bottom two during their debut season. The Atlanta born queen eventually won the show over strong competition from runners-up Raven and Jujubee.
2: Controversial Win. Not everyone was happy with Tyra being victorious in the end. Some of the show’s fanbase called her out for her negative attitude and how she acted around her competition, specifically during the wedding dress challenge where she would not stop singing loudly while everyone was getting ready.
3: Social Media Behavior. Tyra has done some jaw-dropping things online that have fueled her controversy throughout her career. One of the bigger things she did was post a fake obituary about fellow season 2 competitor Morgan McMichaels which Morgan later denounced. She allegedly did this as retribution for Morgan blocking Tyra from a booking at Mickey’s nightclub in West Hollywood.
4: Fatherhood. She has one son who was born in 2005. Tyra often talked about him while she was on the show which gave viewers a chance to see the much more emotional side of her.
5: Retirement. Tyra officially retired from drag in a now-deleted Instagram post shared in March 2020. She is now the first RPDR winner to do so in the show’s 11-year history.