Clair Barnes (born November 22, 1990), known professionally asLexi Love, is an American drag performer and model. She rose to prominence for competing on theseventeenth season of reality competition television seriesRuPaul's Drag Race.
Lexi Love was appointed as the official American ambassador to the United Kingdom-basedHouse of Versace byDrag Race UK winnerKrystal Versace. One of her mentors is 2016Mr. Continental winner Mykul Jay Valentine.[5] An early drag mother of Lexi Love's was Nomi Love, and her current drag mother is Jessica Dimon.[6]
Lexi Love was announced to be competing in theseventeenth season of competition seriesRuPaul's Drag Race on December 4, 2024.[7] She was the first contestant to represent Louisville,[8] and the oldest competitor in the season. Many of her competitors referred to her as "grandma" or "auntie" which sparked a debate online with fans involvingageism in the franchise.[9]
In thesecond episode, Lexi Love performed "She's Giving" whileroller skating and doingcartwheels, which impressed her castmates and ultimately won.[10] Her debut song was produced and co-written by record producerDrew Louis, and was released on January 10, 2025.[11] For theSnatch Game challenge, Lexi Love impersonated the late comedianGilbert Gottfried; digital magazineEntertainment Weekly saw her effort and "tried her hand at pulling off the feat" as she became the third contestant in the series playing a male-presenting character.[12]
She remained safe constantly throughout the season, until she won a narrativeinterpretive dance challenge alongsideOnya Nurve.[13] Lexi Love soon made it to the season finale and performed her second song titled "Classic", but was overall eliminated withSam Star finishing in third place.[14] Her Instagram following grew by 1,144 percent as the show aired.[15]
During her appearance for the seventeenth season ofRuPaul's Drag Race, Barnes disclosed in an interview about taking on asecond mortgage for her garments.[21]
After various HIV resources from government websites attributing for theLGBTQ community were removed on January 22, 2025,[22] Barnes called out the second Donald Trump administration through social media platformInstagram.[23] She shared an infographic from theNOH8 campaign, revealing herself to beHIV positive, and that she utilized a government funded HIV program for over ten years.[24]
Barnes announced her indefinite break from performing on April 27, 2025, through social media in order "to nurture my mental, physical, and emotional well-being."[25] It was revealed she would be admitting herself to arehabilitation clinic. Her manager subsequently clarified on May 10 that although Barnes had suffered withmethamphetamine addiction in the past, "meth is not a factor here" and is simply for emotional therapy as well as "completesobriety" from all other forms of drugs and alcohol.[26] Barnes ended her time at the facility she attended on May 19, stating it was "short-lived due to some unforeseen circumstances."[27]
On June 18, 2025, Barnes got engaged to her partner Jay Groff, a trans man andvet tech.[28][29][30]
Barnes cites her inspirations for her drag persona to be "nostalgic" from the annualVictoria's Secret runways and "very hardcore" inY2K fashion.[31] She uses roller skates while performing and describes herself as Kentucky's "Roller-Derby Doll".[32][33]
In August 2025, Selena Scola, a former pornographic actress who previously performed under the name "Lexi Love" announced that she had sentcease and desist letters to Barnes,RuPaul's Drag Race, Paramount, MTV, and World of Wonder seeking to enforce her trademark on the name "Lexi Love", which she said she used for more than twenty years.[34][35] Following the dispute, Barnes's accounts onCameo,Facebook, andX (formerly Twitter) were suspended, and her debut single, "She's Giving", was removed fromSpotify andApple Music.[36][37][38]
In statements released to online newspapersDeadline andOut Magazine, Barnes said that Scola – who describes herself as "aSAG-AFTRA actor, AI architect, producer, and sustainable fashion entrepreneur" – had also sent cease and desist notices to several venues where Barnes had been booked to perform, resulting in three gig cancellations at the time of reporting.[36][37] An investigation byDeadline found that although Scola had previously registered a trademark for the name "Lexi Love", it had lapsed in March 2015. She subsequently applied for a new trademark in February 2024, covering "performing artists being both human clients and digital talent in the nature of digital personas, virtual performers and AI-driven talent", which was granted in January 2025,[36][39] about one month after the cast reveal of the seventeenth season ofDrag Race.[7] Barnes remarked that Scola began attacking her personally after it was revealed she was cast onDrag Race and Scola's social media accounts were mistakenly tagged instead of her own.[36][37] Scola also objected to Barnes's disclosure of her personal history onDrag Race such as her HIV status and previous drug addiction as causing brand confusion to Scola's trademark.[36][37] Scola's comments were categorized as transphobic and disrespectful to marginalized groups. Additionally, queer associations and newspapers supported Barnes, citing that Scola was threatening to silence online criticism instead of establishing proper legal mechanisms to resolve their dispute professionally.[40]
Additionally, Barnes gave a further statement citing that her legal team attempted to contact Scola trying to offer, as possible solutions, licensing agreements or terms, but without receiving any response from her, who continued to attack online and report all Barnes' social accounts for trademark infringement.[37] As of August 2025, Barnes's officialInstagram andTikTok accounts remained the only active social media profiles, which she was required to operate under herdeadname in order to avoid suspension.[41][42]
In December 2025, Barnes officially filed a counter-notice cease and desist letter against Scola.[43]
