WEST HOLLYWOOD—A fundraiser for the late drag performer Lady Red Couture was established on Monday, July 27. Lady Red—as she was called by many—was a West Hollywood resident and the co-host of “Hey Qween!,” a popular YouTube show.
Lady Red passed away on Saturday, July 25 after spending close to a week in a hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. The host of “Hey Qween!,” Jonny McGovern, transported Lady Red to the hospital and announced her death on social media.
“It doesn’t feel real but the beautiful light that was Lady Red is gone,” he wrote. “I love you baby. I will miss you everyday.”
McGovern and Lady Red’s sister, Krystle Barnes, set the fundraiser up. At 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, it had already raised nearly $35,000 – more than the original $30,000 target. Over 1,200 individuals have made donations.
“We are devastated by the loss of Lady Red as is the world and we want to be able to lay Lady Red to rest properly,” McGovern and Barnes said in a joint statement. Funds raised will go towards handling Lady Red’s “final arrangements” and paying her hospital bills.
Another fundraiser was made prior to McGovern’s and Barnes’s, but it was a sham. It had raised over $750 before McGovern noticed it and published warnings online. His name had also been misspelled on the page as “Johnny McGoven.” Less than an hour after McGovern announced that the fundraiser was a fraud, it was deactivated.
The official page can be viewed at gofundme.com/f/help-lay-lady-red-to-rest.
