DeJa Skye

DeJa Skye
Born
Willie Redman[1]

c. 1991 (age 32–33)
OccupationDrag queen
TelevisionRuPaul's Drag Race (season 14)
Websitethedejaskye.com

DeJa Skye is the stage name of Willie Redman, an American drag performer who competed on the fourteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Career

DeJa Skye began working as a drag queen in 2011, when she was 20 years old.[2] Early in her career, she performed in Fresno, Modesto, and Sacramento, California.[3][4]

DeJa Skye competed on the fourteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She placed in the bottom two at the start of the season, but remained in the competition after eliminating Daya Betty in a lip-sync battle to Alicia Keys' 2001 song "Fallin'". She won the Snatch Game challenge with her impersonation of Lil Jon,[5][6][7] which meant she did not have to participate in a special lip-sync battle against the other seven remaining contestants in the competition at that time.[8] After failing to impress judges in a challenge which saw contestants roast judge Ross Mathews, DeJa Skye placed in the bottom three with Jorgeous and Daya Betty, who had returned to the competition. DeJa Skye and Jorgeous were both eliminated by Daya Betty.[9][10][11] Sam Damshenas of Gay Times said DeJa Skye's Snatch Game performance "was met with enormous praise for her impersonation of the hip-hop giant, including Jon himself".[12]

Following her appearance on Drag Race, DeJa Skye joined the cast of the Werq the World tour.[13] In 2024, she was announced as one of eight former Drag Race contestants participating in Painting with Raven, a spin-off of the WOW Presents Plus series Painted with Raven.[14][15]

Personal life

Redman is from Fresno, California.[9]

DeJa Skye's name comes from Beyoncé's song "Déjà Vu" (2006) and the name of a puppet on the PBS television series The Puzzle Place.[4] She has approximately 116,000 followers on Instagram, as of February 2022.[16]

Filmography

See also

References

  1. ^ "Local drag queens educate children". Fresno State Focus. Fresno State. 23 April 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  2. ^ Tharp, Kalian (2022-06-15). "Skye's the Limit". Fresno Flyer. Archived from the original on 2022-12-04. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  3. ^ "Fresno drag queen DeJa Skye makes her debut on RuPaul's Drag Race 2022". abc10.com. January 13, 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  4. ^ a b "Drag queen from Fresno is debuting on RuPaul's Drag Race". abc10.com. January 14, 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-12-04. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  5. ^ Nolfi, Joey. "DeJa Skye went out laughing, and 'Drag Race' was better for it". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  6. ^ Cook, Michael. "DeJa Skye on Being The 'Drag Race' Voice Of Reason". South Florida Gay News. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  7. ^ Nolfi, Joey. "DeJa Skye reveals more Lil Jon 'Snatch Game' stunts she almost pulled on 'Drag Race'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  8. ^ "Every Snatch Game Winner on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Out. Archived from the original on 2023-03-17. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  9. ^ a b "Exit Interview: DeJa Skye On Getting Cut From 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 14". Nylon. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  10. ^ Daw, Stephen (2022-04-04). "'Drag Race' Eliminee DeJa Skye Wants to Collaborate With Lil Jon as 'Not-So-Lil Jon'". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  11. ^ "The grand finale queens were revealed on the latest episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 14". Gay Times. 2022-04-09. Archived from the original on 2022-06-05. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  12. ^ "Exclusive: DeJa Skye felt "overlooked" by Drag Race viewers". Gay Times. 2022-04-05. Archived from the original on 2022-06-05. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  13. ^ ""RuPaul's Drag Race" tour coming to State Theatre in Minneapolis". CBS News. 21 March 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  14. ^ Sharpe, Josh. "PAINTED WITH RAVEN Spin-Off Series Coming This Summer". Broadway World. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  15. ^ "Painted with Raven is back with a new format". Pride.com. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  16. ^ "This Is How Many Followers 'Drag Race' Season 14 Queens Gained So Far". www.out.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2023-05-01.