Joanne The Scammer just scammed her way onto the cover of Attitude’s May Issue
By Will Stroude
She’s a messy bitch who lives for drama, and Joanna The Scammer is living it to the first degree on the cover of Attitude’s May Issue – available to download and in shops now.
The social media star has fast-talked her way into people’s hearts over the last year with her anarchic online presence and penchant for gate-crashing a celebrity event or two, most notably at the MTV VMAs, when she even found herself on briefly stage during a Nick Jonas performance.
The brain-child of Florida-based actor Branden Miller, Joanne’s taste for the finer things in life and serious disregard for the rules has seen her capture the mind of a generation living through an increasingly fearful age, while simultaneously redefining gender and social boundaries.
“Celebrities think I’m funny. They look at me like a drag queen because they’re mostly straight,” Joanne says. “So when they look at somebody like me, they just look at it as a joke. Very campy. They don’t get it.
She adds: “It’s not like watching someone in drag. It’s hard to explain. I’m not a drag queen. I look at myself as more of an actor.”
That ambiguity has lead to accusations from some quarters that Joanne’s characterisation is by its very nature transphobic – something that the lady herself is quick to deny.
“I remember when my dad died, I ran away from myself. I dressed as a woman for six to eight months,” she recalls. “Constantly. I lived as a woman. It was who I was at that point. My name was Victoria. I ran away from my house, and me and a friend went homeless.
“I just wanted to be not me. I didn’t call it being a woman, I called it being genderless. Even though my nuts were down my legs, I was genderless.
“I wouldn’t say I’m trans. But I know how it feels to be treated like a transgender person. So, that’s why it hurts when people call me transphobic. Because I can relate — and I have related.”
The May issue of Attitude is out now. To buy in print click here, or subscribe at subscribeme.to/attitude. To buy a digital copy, visit pocketmags.com/attitude.
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