The crowd of Trixie Mattel‘s Saturday performance at The Complex were treated to a surprise when a local billboard icon showed up on the screen.
Paige Askerlund captured the moment on her phone: Among the bright visuals, a Julia Reagan billboard twirled on the screen as local drag queen Mia Barbin strutted around the stage.
Mateo Segade, Mattel’s DJ partner, opened up the show alongside Barbin before Mattel came on, Askerlund said.
The TikTok video below shows the billboard displayed during the show. Viewer discretion is advised.
“[Segade] had a bunch of visuals on the screen behind him, and it was a lot of just funny references, LGBTQ history and popular LGBTQ movies, just like clips from that,” Askerlund said. “And then suddenly the Julia Reagan billboard popped up, and everybody in the crowd went crazy.”
Most Utahns are accustomed to see the famous Reagan billboards outside entertainment venues.
Reagan is the late matriarch to the Reagan billboard company. Over the last year, variations of tribute billboards for her have popped up around the Beehive State — a way for her late husband, William Reagan, to pay tribute to her, according to Fox13. The billboards span across to the country.
Reagan died nearly a year ago in June 2024. Her husband has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against The University of Utah’s hospitals and clinics.
Askerlund said the billboard stayed on screen for 30 seconds, but neither Segade, Mattel or Barbin explained why they decided to add it.
Mattel is an American drag queen who is a veteran of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Her Saturday performance in Salt Lake City was a part of her “Solid Pink Disco: Blonde Edition” tour — a live DJ show.
A representative for Mattel declined to comment for this story.
