Tenor and drag performer Jordan Weatherston Pitts has spoken out about his social media altercation with soprano Pretty Yende.

On May 12, 2023, Pitts, who has been a drag performer for six years, released a video on his Instagram account in which he explained since 2019, his stage name for his drag persona was “Petty Yende,” in honor of the South African soprano who recently performed at King Charles III’s coronation.

“I want to say that I in no way meant to disrespect you or what you do or who you are as an artist or person,” Pitts, who has performed with such opera companies as New York City Opera, Sun Valley Opera, New Amsterdam Opera, Teatro Grattacielo, The Boston Camerata, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and Gertrude Opera, among many others, says in the video regarding the name he chose, adding that, as is often the case with drag performers, the names they choose are a play on words aimed at honoring their favorite divas or artists. “Very often our names reflect the names of our divas… it’s a pun.”

He noted that he would photoshop his face into photos of the diva, “always in good fun,” adding that he would and has never said anything disrespectful of her.

As it turns out, Yende caught wind of the situation following the Coronation and apparently sent private message to Pitts in which she responded with a series of exclamation points. Before Pitts could explain himself, he found his account blocked by Yende.

Following that, the South African diva, who recently canceled a performance of “Manon” in Vienna due to a serious injury she sustained before going on stage to perform at the Coronation, took to Instagram to call Pitts an “imposter.” Yende has, as of this writing, 63.9K followers on Instagram.

“Pretty posted an instagram reel sharing a montage of screenshoted photos of my account, many of which were just photos of me in drag, with the word ‘Imposter’ stickered all over it,” Pitts told OperaWire. “She left a call to action in the comments requesting everyone go and report my account. She did the same in her Instagram stories.”

Pitts went on to receive numerous DMs from her followers calling him an “Imposter, a fake account, and that Pretty Yende was the real person who sang at the coronation.”

“One person said that drag was ‘disgusting’ and that I should be ashamed to call myself ‘Yende’ and I received many comments from even young singers who were writing the words ‘Fake’ and ‘Imposter’ on all of my photos,” he added.

Notably, several major operatic artists and colleagues of Yende commented on the post (which OperaWire saw screenshots of because Yende has since erased it from her social media) also took a moment to deride Pitts; one notable tenor, who is currently singing at the Metropolitan Opera “made a comment about the quality of the photoshop.” Pitts did note that several colleagues came to his defense as well.

As a result, Pitts’ Instagram account was suspended, a major blow to his career as a drag performer.

“The suspension of my account has major consequences for my career with many pride shows already scheduled for this June billed as ‘Petty Yende’ as well as a performance with @anoperatheatre in Minneapolis called ‘Divas and Drag’ that has already been underway in production,” Pitts told OperaWire. “The subsequent name change and account deletion removes a major component of branding, self-promotion, and makes it harder for people to find me and get in touch with my work, which combines real opera singing with drag. Not only this but there were years of industry connections I had worked very hard to make both in drag as well as opera.

“The damage is done, but it is quite significant.”

He has since created a new page under a new drag persona – “Creatine Price” – in honor of soprano Leontyne Price,  “because I lift weights and love Leontyne!” The handle for the new profile is @creatineprice.

He also called for more support for other drag performers in the opera community, particularly Monet X Change, Jasmine Rice LaBeija, Matthew Maisano, and Stephanie Blythe.

On Saturday, May 13, Yende posted a comment on Pitts’ video stating, “Dear Jordan, I am terribly sorry for this inconvenience and misinterpretation on my part. I can try and explain further but what I would like to say is I am sorry and if there’s anything that I can do to reverse the situation I would @jordanwpitts… thank you for being so kind to me even in this instance in explaining everything to me. I pray you may forgive me. I send also my sincerest apologies on your followers and on behalf on mine.”

In response to her message, Pitts noted that he accepted the apology but, “the truth is that this happens to many artists, and it is important that larger creators understand that not everyone is out to get them and one quick look at my account would have made it very clear that what I was doing was humorous and in good faith. Perhaps we could have a further conversation in the future.”

Next up for Pitts is a performance with @anoperatheatre (Formerly Arbeit Opera Theatre) in June called “Divas and Drag,” which combines opera and drag in a community-building, and artistic way in the heart of Minneapolis. He also has “countless drag brunches, social events and gatherings scheduled through August.”

OperaWire was in contact with Yende’s press representative on Saturday morning Eastern Standard Time to talk about Yende’s viewpoint on the situation and behavior of her followers in response to her now-deleted post; we are awaiting their response and will update the story accordingly once a response is issued.

Next up for Yende is a production of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” in Hamburg, a recital in Auvers-sur-Oise, a production of “Roméo et Juliette” at the Opéra National de Paris. This fall she returns to London to take on “Rigoletto” at the Royal Opera House before heading to Paris for “Hoffmann.”

Just a few weeks away from Pride Month, drag performers and the LGBTQ+ community is under fire worldwide. A few years ago, Vice put out a story on the dangers and difficulties that drag performers face in Europe. And things are unfortunately not improving. In the United States, right-wing lawmakers in many conservative states, notably Tennessee and Florida, have done their utmost to strip drag performers of their freedom of expression. In London, protests broke out this past February when The Tate over hosting Grag Queen Story Hour UK which featured the first European drag artist Aida H. Dee telling stories to children in a nursery.