Enter Jaremi Carey; Phi Phi O’Hara Has Officially Retired From Drag

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As one of the most polarizing queens to ever emerge from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Phi Phi O’Hara (Jaremi Carey) had his fair share of run-ins with fellow queens during his runs on the show. Whether it was on Season 4 (with where he battled with eventual winner Sharon Needles) and fellow competitor Willam or on All Stars 2, where he battled with Alyssa Edwards, O’Hara was known for standing her ground and not backing down from a fight (sans her non-appearance at the All Stars 2 reunion). His polarizing relationship with fellow Drag Race contestants and RuPaul herself notwithstanding, O’Hara has proven herself to be a performer that is able to diversify. O’Hara released music under her Jaremi Carey moniker, and crafted several Instagram drag challenges where she has totally revitalized what many think of drag to be, including recreating thirty-one Harry Potter characters consecutively. O’Hara has announced definitively that she is retiring from drag.

Art Courtesy Instagram/VH1

In an extensive Twitter post, Carey expressed why he was leaving his drag alter ego in the past, stating frankly “”Phi Phi has never been real … always a character because ‘Jaremi’ at the time wouldn’t work for my drag name when I started,” Carey wrote. “Phi Phi has been a great vessel for my art to come alive in but at the end of the day, I realized I never needed her to show my art.”

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Recently, Carey has been embracing his inner video game geek, by hosting a “Poke-Ball” for Nintendo’s Animal Crossing video game. 

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As we eagerly anticipate Carey’s next act as a performer, dive into the first single from his commercially successful and critically lauded full length album Play

Follow Jaremi Carey on Instagram 

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