Nina Bo'nina Brown is the stage name of Pierre Leverne Dease, 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 o ...

and reality television personality best known for starring on the ninth 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 ...

'', where she placed sixth.

Early life

Dease was born on July 12, 1982, in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

. Her drag name was 'Beatta Bitchass' before changing it to Nina Bo'nina Brown. Prior to starring on season nine of ''RuPaul's Drag Race,'' she auditions for seasons five through eight. She was the makeup artist for some of

Phi Phi O'Hara Jaremi Lee Carey (born Jeremy Lee Carey; October 10, 1985) is an American actor, streamer, singer, cosplay artist, and former drag performer who performed under the name Phi Phi O'Hara. In the O'Hara persona, Carey came to international attention ...

's looks for her "365 Days of Drag" project.

Career

RuPaul's Drag Race

Brown was announced as one of fourteen contestants competing on the ninth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' on February 2, 2017. She was the winner of the premiere episode challenge with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

as the guest judge. In episode five, she voiced her thoughts on not being cast as model

Blac Chyna Angela Renée White (born May 11, 1988), known professionally as Blac Chyna, is an American model and socialite. She originally rose to prominence in 2010 as the stunt double for Nicki Minaj in the music video for the song "Monster" by Kanye ...

for the musical challenge. She named her 2018 tour "I Shoulda Been Blac Chyna", after this moment. ''Drag Race'' alumni

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

also referenced this moment in a line of her song "Valentina". She placed in the bottom two three times, eliminating Aja and Valentina, before being eliminated herself on the makeover episode, after losing a lip sync of "

Cool for the Summer "Cool for the Summer" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released as the lead single from her fifth studio album ''Confident (album), Confident'' (2015) on July 1, 2015, by Hollywood Records and Island Records, and premiered on ra ...

" by

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

against

Shea Couleé Jaren Kyei Merrell (born February 8, 1989), known professionally as Shea Couleé, is an American drag queen, musician, actor, podcaster, and fixture of the Chicago nightlife scene. Born in Warsaw, Indiana, they began their drag career in 2012. I ...

. She appeared with

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, sometimes known as Miss Vanjie or simply Vanjie, is the stage name of José Cancel, an American drag performer known for competing on the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and placing fifth on the eleventh season of ...

for four episodes of the WOWPresents internet series "Fashion Photo RuView" between November 2018, and January 2019, filling in for

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 ...

and

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

YouTube

Brown received notoriety from her self-published

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

videos reviewing currently airing episodes of ''Drag Race''. Brown began reviewing from Episode 1, fourth all star season on December 27, 2018. Continuing the web series Rawview for a second season, Brown reviewed weekly episodes of season eleven beginning March 2, 2019.

MAC Cosmetics Campaign

In June 2018, she was sponsored by

MAC Cosmetics MAC Cosmetics, stylized as M·A·C, is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company is headquartered in New York City after becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies i ...

to review and promote the 2018

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

collection. She dressed as a humanoid zebra in the July 2018 issue of ''Paper'', modeling for Gypsy Sport's Fall 2018 campaign. She modeled again for Gypsy Sport's Spring 2019 campaign.

Personal life

Dease is openly gay. Prior to filming season nine of

Drag Race Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

, he relocated to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. In '' RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked'', Dease stated that his audition for season nine was going to be his final attempt. According to Dease, being rejected from seasons five through eight played a role in his depression and anxiety.

Controversy

In 2017, Nina Bo’nina Brown received backlash for sending fan favorite Valentina home in a lipsync for your life on the 9th episode of the ninth season of ''

''. The elimination went down as one of the shows most controversial lipsyncs and placed in

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ commu ...

Top 10 Most Controversial RuPaul’s Drag Race Eliminations. In 2021, Nina Bo’nina Brown was accused of making

transphobic Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

comments about

Gottmik Kade Gottlieb (born August 19, 1997), better known as Gottmik, is an American drag performer and make-up artist. He became the first openly trans man to compete on ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', tying for 3rd place on the thirteenth season. Early li ...

, a contestant on the thirteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race; Kade Gottlieb (aka Gottmik) is a transgender male. Brown's comments, which included frequent jokes about Gottmik's

tuck Tuck may refer to: People * Tuck (surname), including a list of people * Tuck (nickname), a list of people * Tuck (footballer), Portuguese football player and coach João Carlos Novo de Araújo Gonçalves (born 1969) * Hillary Tuck (born 1978), A ...

, prompted criticism from several ''RuPaul’s Drag Race'' contestants, with many stars defending Gottmik, including

Yvie Oddly Jovan Jordan Bridges (born August 22, 1993), known by the stage name Yvie Oddly, is an American drag queen, performer, fashion designer, rapper, and recording artist from Denver, Colorado who came to international attention in 2019 when she won t ...

, Jackie Cox,

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

Kameron Michaels Dane Young (born July 23, 1986), known professionally as Kameron Michaels, is an American drag performer who came to international attention after competing on the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Originally from Columbia, Tennessee, sh ...

, and

Jan Sport Jan Sport, sometimes known simply as Jan, is the stage name of Charlie Mantione (born Charles Joseph Mantione; June 11, 1993), an American drag queen and singer based in New York City, who came to international attention on the twelfth season o ...

, as well as

Bimini Bon-Boulash Bimini Bon-Boulash (also known mononymously as Bimini; born 12 May 1993) is the stage name of Thomas Hibbitts, an English drag queen, author, recording artist and model based in East London, and born in Great Yarmouth, England. They are best kn ...

Joe Black Joseph Black (February 8, 1924 – May 17, 2002) was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league and Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs, and Washington Senators who became the first black pitcher to win a Wor ...

Cheryl Hole Cheryl Hole (born 18 October 1993) is the stage name of Luke Underwood-Bleach, an English drag queen from Chelmsford in Essex who is known for being one of the first contestants on ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' (2019) and later the first season of ' ...

, and

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

from ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

''. Brown claimed that the criticism was unwarranted and denied accusations of transphobia.

Filmography

Television

Web series

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Nina Bonina 1982 births Living people African-American drag queens American YouTubers Gay entertainers LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state) LGBT people from South Carolina LGBT YouTubers People from Atlanta People from Columbia, South Carolina

Nina Bo'nina Brown Nina Bo'nina Brown is the stage name of Pierre Leverne Dease, an American drag queen and reality television personality best known for starring on the ninth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', where she placed sixth. Early life Dease was born ...

People from Riverdale, Georgia 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people