Nikita Dragun says Victoria’s Secret tried to sue her for viral video in 2018: ‘It was very polarizing’

Kerry Justich
·Health and Wellness Staff Writer
·3 min read
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Nikita Dragun says Victoria's Secret tried to sue her in 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)

Nikita Dragun made headlines back in 2018 for recreating a Victoria's Secret commercial in response to comments made by Ed Razek that "no one had any interest in" a fantasy that included transgender and plus-size models. Now, the YouTuber and creator of Dragun Beauty is revealing that the lingerie brand attempted to sue her for the video, which was viewed over 30 million times on her Instagram and Twitter accounts alone.

"They did try to sue me. But they went about it a crazy way," Dragun told Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards and Brianna LaPaglia on an episode of Barstool's BFFs podcast. "They found out where I shot it at, the house. They were able to contact them and the house tried to sue me for filming in their house and publicizing it. And I was like, 'Wait, what? This is crazy. They’re trying to sue me for a cute quarter of a million, which is a little crazy.'"

The 25-year-old went on to explain that the project was a "last minute" one that cost her nearly $20,000 — "which I did not have in 2018 to be spending," she added. "But I just felt so passionate about it."

Once it went live on her social media accounts and received the attention that it did, the cost definitely seemed worth it.

"That was the video that really took me to a different level and it was crazy," she said. "It was very polarizing."

Victoria's Secret didn't respond to Yahoo Life's request for comment. Dragun, however, explained that she found out that the lawsuit was allegedly coming from the corporation, rather than the Airbnb house that she had filmed in — which she claims cost $7,000 per night — and that her lawyer got her out of it.

"I didn’t post it on YouTube, I didn’t make any money from it," Dragun said. "[My lawyer's] like 'Well, babe lots of people take pictures there so are you gonna sue all the other people who posted on Instagram?'"

In light of Victoria's Secret's recent news that the brand will get rid of its iconic Angels and the idea of the "Fantasy" altogether, Dragun maintained that her video was made "just to prove a point."

"They can hire whoever the f*** they want, but if they’re gonna say that trans women and plus-size women can’t sell a fantasy, that was the quote that blew up, that’s what I had a problem with," she said. "Your brand is sold worldwide, it’s a huge brand, why not sell more product? Sell different sizes, sell this, showcase your product that it can look amazing and you can make a plus-size woman look like an angel. Sell that fantasy. Anyone can buy panties. We as women we can go to Walmart to go get underwear but why do we go to Victoria’s Secret? It’s amazing, it’s the feeling, it’s that sexiness. So why not have that accessible to everyone? ...It's really that simple."

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