Nikita Nguyen (born January 31, 1996) known professionally as Nikita Dragun, is a

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

, make-up artist, and model.

Early life

Nikita Nguyen was born in Belgium and attended high school in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States. She is of Vietnamese and Mexican descent and came out as trans when she was a teenager. In several of Nguyen's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

videos, she has spoken openly about her gender identity.

Career

Nguyen joined YouTube in February 2013. She stated, "I started to get little brand deals around that time''…'' That was also when I decided to start taking Instagram and YouTube seriously." In 2015, by which time she was living in

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, she came out as transgender. As of October 2021, she has over 3.54 million subscribers on YouTube, 9 million followers on Instagram, and 14.5 million followers on TikTok. In response to comments by L Brands chief marketing officer

Ed Razek Edward G. Razek (born ) is an American businessperson known for his former role as the Chief Marketing Officer for L Brands where he developed the Victoria's Secret Angels and the company's annual fashion show. Razek joined L Brands in 1983 and ...

that trans women should not be included in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show because "the show is a fantasy", Nguyen tweeted a video of herself modeling lingerie. In the tweet, Nguyen argues that trans women were indeed able to convey fantasy. In March 2019, she announced a make-up line, Dragun Beauty. Aside from the mainstream market, the cosmetic line is also targeted towards the transgender community. All products are vegan and cruelty-free, this is cited as a reason why Nikita decided to launch her brand independently. In June 2019, Nguyen was interviewed about her make-up brand on the LGBT radio network Channel Q, where she credited her journey as a trans woman building her brand as the inspiration behind Dragun Beauty and its products. In September 2019, it was announced Nikita would be starring in her own docuseries on Snapchat, "Nikita Unfiltered". The series follows Nguyen as she searches for love, "a different path" in her career, and navigates fame as a trans woman. The series premiered on March 21, 2020.

Controversies

On July 21, 2020, Nguyen held a surprise birthday party for YouTuber Larri Merritt during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

at the Hype House mansion. The party included

internet celebrities An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

such as

James Charles James Charles Dickinson (born May 23, 1999) is an American beauty YouTuber and makeup artist. While working as a local makeup artist in his hometown of Bethlehem, New York, Charles started a YouTube channel, where he posts makeup tutorials. ...

Charli D'Amelio Charli Grace D'Amelio ( ; born May 1, 2004) is an American social media personality. She was a competitive dancer for over 10 years before starting her social media career in 2019, when she started posting dance videos on the video-sharing pl ...

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, and others. At the time of the party, California's COVID-19 cases had just surpassed New York's cases. There was an estimated 67 people in attendance, many of whom were seen without face masks despite local health recommendations. Photos and videos of the event appeared on social media sites such as Instagram. These posts drew criticism from the public, including other influencers like

Elijah Daniel Elijah Daniel (born January 9, 1994) is an American comedian, rapper, record producer, songwriter, and author. He became popular online through his satirical social media posts. Daniel began rapping under the name Lil Phag in late 2017. Daniel ...

and

Tyler Oakley Mathew Tyler Oakley (born March 22, 1989) is an American YouTuber, actor, activist and author. Much of Oakley's activism has been dedicated to LGBT youth, LGBT rights, as well as social issues including health care, education, and the preventio ...

. Merritt, and some of the other attendees, later apologized. Residents of the Hype House later tested negative for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. Some people have accused Nguyen of

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Arrest

Nguyen was arrested on November 7, 2022, after police claimed they found her roaming around the pool in her underwear and spraying police and security personnel with water at The Goodtime Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. According to the police report, officers were called in response to a report of a person acting in a "highly disorderly fashion" and causing a disturbance at the hotel. She was charged for misdemeanor disorderly conduct, misdemeanor battery, and felony battery on a police officer and was taken into custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County with a $5,000 bond. She claimed she was placed into a men's prison despite her gender identity. Officials from the Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Department disputed that account, saying she had never made it past booking, so was never placed in a men's prison, and was first in an open seating area, then in a holding cell by herself.

Awards

Filmography

Web series

TV series

Music videos

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Nikita 1996 births Living people LGBT people from Virginia Belgian YouTubers American YouTubers LGBT YouTubers Transgender female models LGBT media personalities Shorty Award winners Hispanic and Latino American models Hispanic and Latino American entertainers Streamy Award winners 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Belgian emigrants to the United States Belgian people of Vietnamese descent Belgian people of Mexican descent American people of Vietnamese descent American people of Mexican descent