Jamin Ruhren (born December 10, 1977), better known by the stage name Acid Betty, is an American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

, performer, actor and singer. He rose to national prominence after competing on the eighth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'' in 2016.

Early life

Ruhren first wore drag when he was very young, masquerading as his sister’s “cousin from out of town” as a practical joke, where he wore his sister’s cheerleader pompoms to act as his hair and breasts. He later said that that was when he first knew he would pass as a female in the future, even if he looked like “a fat

Raggedy Ann Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. Gruelle r ...

”. Ruhren went to his first drag club when he was 17, where he saw

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

perform. He is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Career

Acid Betty at RuPaul's Dragcon 2017 by dvsross (2)

Before his appearance on

, Betty was a guest for an episode of ''Project Runway'', season five in 2008, where RuPaul was the guest judge. In 2009, Betty was in the film ''

An Englishman in New York "An Englishman in New York" is a song by Godley & Creme, from their 1979 album '' Freeze Frame''. It is memorable for an innovative self-produced music video which involved Godley singing in front of Creme, as Creme conducted mannequins dresse ...

'' with

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

. In 2010, she appeared in an eight episode web series documentary, ''Queens of Drag: NYC'' with

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantba ...

Bianca Del Rio Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the stage name Bianca Del Rio, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Since her time on ''Drag R ...

and Mimi Imfurst. She has served as Ringleader at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

for New York City's "Rock and Roll Circus" in 2011. Betty was announced to be one of twelve competing on season eight of ''

'' on February 1, 2016. She was eliminated in episode five after performing badly on the annual

snatch game Snatch Game is a challenge on the ''Drag Race'' reality competition television franchise. Beginning with the second season of the original American series '' RuPaul's Drag Race'', the challenge has taken place on every season since. It has also ...

challenge, and later losing a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

to Madonna's " Causing a Commotion" against

Naomi Smalls Davis M. Heppenstall (born September 8, 1993), better known by the stage name Naomi Smalls, is an American drag queen and reality television personality, best known as one of the runners-up on the eighth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' as well ...

. After the show, Betty made a cameo appearance in '' The Path'' in 2018. In July 2020, Betty was featured in ''Drive N' Drag'', a

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...

drag show.

Music

In November 2011, Betty appeared in the music video for Cazwell's "Unzip Me". Betty released her first single, "Ruthless", on March 1, 2012. Her second single, "Fantasy", was released on May 15, 2016. The music video features season eight finalists Kim Chi and

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher D. Caldwell, better known as Bob the Drag Queen and Caldwell Tidicue, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, and reality television personality. He is best known for winning the eighth season of ''RuPaul's D ...

. A third single, "Acid (Drop)", was available three days later.

Personal life

Ruhren is based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Web series

Discography

Singles

References

External links

*
Acid Betty
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{RuPaul's Drag Race Living people American drag queens Artists from Brooklyn RuPaul's Drag Race contestants LGBT Jews Jewish American male actors Jewish singers Singers from New York City 1977 births LGBT people from New York (state)