Drag Race star Monica Beverly Hillz alleges her ex Josh Seiter faked his own death
Josh Seiter (L) and Monica Beverly Hills (R). (Instagram/@joshseiter/Getty)
Drag Race star Monica Beverly Hillz has claimed “there’s no way in hell” that ex-boyfriend Josh Seiter’s account was hacked after false reports of his death appeared on social media.
Bisexual Bachelorette contestant Seiter uploaded an Instagram video on Tuesday (29 August) confirming he was “alive and well” after a statement published on his page the previous day announced his “unexpected passing”.
His supposed death, reported by a number of news outlets, was linked to ongoing mental health troubles.
Following the incident, Seiter claimed that the hoax has been posted by hackers; however Seiter’s former romantic partner Monica Beverly Hillz, accused the OnlyFans influencer of orchestrating a publicity stunt.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hillz, real name Monica Dejesus-Anaya, dismissed Seiter’s version of events, saying there is “no way in hell” it is the true and that in fact Seiter was faking his own death.
Now, Seiter has hit back at Hillz, branding her charge as “ridiculous accusations made up by somebody with nothing better to do with their time”.
Dejesus-Anaya made history on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2013 as the first queen to come out as transgender while competing on the reality competition.
According to Dejesus-Anaya, she and Seiter first connected over Instagram almost a decade ago. But they only started dating earlier this month after Seiter messaged her. That led to a whirlwind three-week romance which ended on 22 August.
She admitted that she found out about his (fake) death on Instagram along with everyone else and was led to believe it was true given their “rollercoaster relationship” during which Seiter allegedly admitted he planted negative news stories about himself.
“In three weeks, there were so many emotions,” she said. “He was up, down, inside out, that’s why when I heard that he passed away, I didn’t want to believe it, but in a sense I’m like, he’s not really all up there. He’s not, and I sensed that.”
After Seiter claimed the statement was simply a hacker playing a “cruel joke”, the Chicago-born drag queen accused him of making the whole story up for attention.
“I don’t have the words, I’m baffled. I’m angry,” she said. “I’m happy he’s alive, I’m happy he’s here, but this is so infuriating to me. Being involved and being a trans woman of colour, speaking about certain situations, not letting men use us for our glamour and spotlight, and here’s this guy doing all of this stuff.
“It makes me look like I’m involved and that I’m crazy… I got my page hacked, it took me months to get my damn Instagram back. I was devastated. There’s no way in hell that [his] was hacked. Sorry, no.”
Entertainment Weekly contacted Seiter to respond to the claims, which he denied vehemently, saying: “Those are all ridiculous accusations made up by somebody with nothing better to do with their time.
“As a mental-health advocate, issues of suicide are very sensitive for me. To suggest that I would orchestrate a death post around that issue is sickening. I have dedicated the [past] eight years of my life [to] blogging and raising awareness about mental health, and I will continue to do so, regardless of what my detractors have to say.”
Dejesus-Anaya, however, has criticised him for not letting her know he was alive before the news broke publically.
“You dated me, if your s**t was hacked, you should’ve called me,” she continued.
“He has my number, to call me and say: ‘Hey, I need your help, you can release a statement saying my thing is hacked’. He didn’t do s**t, sat back, and got off on everybody freaking out and going through a thing. It’s sick in the f***ing head.
“Why is there no repercussion for him? Now he has his Instagram back so he’s going to go back to what he’s doing, and nobody’s going to hold Josh accountable because what: he’s a white, cis man?
“It really does bother me because trans women of colour, people I know personally, are being attacked and murdered and nobody’s giving them the air time they need, but Josh Seiter comes along and he’s in the news, he’s everywhere.”
Seiter has used the situation to open up further discussions around mental health.
“If you’re not open and honest, it precludes a connection to other people who are going through something similar,” Seiter told People after the hacking.
“Silence is going to lead inevitably to more suffering and more pain. When you’re open about something, it opens up connections to other people who might be going through the same thing, and through those connections, you can find more strength. It’s kind of like strength in numbers.”
