Kori King | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rashawn King March 13, 2000 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation | Drag performer |
| Television | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 17) |
Rashawn King, known professionally as Kori King, is an American drag performer who competed on the seventeenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. [1] [2]
Rashawn King was born on March 13, 2000 [3] and raised in Boston. [4] His parents are divorced. He attended Boston Arts Academy for visual arts. [5]
King's drag persona is Kori King, billed as the "Black Barbie of Boston". [6] In 2023, she performed alongside Kesha as part of the Only Love Tour. [7] That same year, she was awarded the "Boston's Best New Performer to Watch" award. [8] [9] She also played Ariel in a local Little Mermaid-themed drag show. [10] Kori King acquired large followings on TikTok and YouTube early in her career. [11] Ian Helms included her in Queerty 's 2024 list of Boston's top twenty drag performers. [12]
Kori King competed on the seventeenth season (2025) of RuPaul's Drag Race . She entered the Werk Room on the premiere episode wearing an outfit inspired by Dunkin' Donuts. [6] [13] She was named the "trade" of the season by her castmates. [14] On the fourth episode, Kori King placed in the bottom two and defeated Joella in a lip-sync contest to remain in the competition. [15] Kori King impersonated Big Ang for the Snatch Game challenge on the seventh episode. [16] [17] She placed in the bottom again on the eighth episode, defeating Acacia Forgot in the lip-sync. [18] [19] She was eliminated from the competition on the ninth episode, after placing the bottom two of a design challenge and losing a lip-sync contest against Lydia B Kollins. [20] [21] Kori King placed ninth overall. Pride.com has described her as a "fan favorite". [22]
On the fifteenth episode, ahead of the season finale, Kori King competed in the lip sync contest known as the "Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown", which pitted all of the season's eliminated queens against one another in a lip sync battle tournament. After defeating Arrietty, Lana Ja'Rae, and her romantic partner Lydia B Kollins in the preliminary battles, Kori King advanced to the final round, where she lipsynced against Suzie Toot to "Apt." (2024) by Rosé and Bruno Mars. Ultimately, Suzie Toot was pronounced victorious by RuPaul, thus making Kori King the second place runner-up of the LaLaPaRuza tournament. [23] Kori King's Instagram following grew by 783 percent as the show aired. [24]
After the completion of season 17, King became the most popular video creator on the online Cameo platform, which King uses to sell custom-made videos of herself parodying fictional characters and celebrities. [25] One of the more popular characters King portrays on the site is "Kori Toot", which is a parodical reference to fellow contestant Suzie Toot and her 'vintage glamour' style of drag. [26] Kori King has also impersonated The Lorax, Shrek, and JoJo Siwa, [27] along with Michael Jackson on the 2025 Emmys Red Carpet, where she explained that she wanted to be "comfortable and chic" despite judgement from others. [28] When asked about her Michael Jackson drag at the season 17 grand finale, King stated that, "I haven’t heard anything from the Michael Jackson society. It’s just funny; it’s comedy. When I’m getting in drag, I want to laugh. I was in that drag for literally 12 hours, and I was exhausted." [29]
After being displaced from the top position on Cameo by Nikki Blonsky in April 2025, King jokingly stated to a reporter that she hopes "Blonsky falls off the face of the Earth and gets banned". [30] [27]
King lived in Boston in 2024. [31] He used to be an animator before starting drag. [32] He is dating Drag Race co-star Lydia B Kollins. [33] [34] [35]
Kori King is the "drag sister" of Plane Jane, who competed on the sixteenth season of Drag Race. [36] [37]
