Tila Tequila

"Paralyze (song)" redirects here. Not to be confused with Paralyzer.

Tila Tequila
Tequila in October 2008
Born
Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen

(1981-10-24) October 24, 1981 (age 43)
Singapore
NationalityAmerican
Other names
  • Tila Nguyen
  • Miss Tila
  • Tornado Thien
Occupations
  • Model
  • television personality
  • singer
Years active2001–present
Children2
Musical career
Genres
Labels

Nguyễn Thị Thiên Thanh[1] (born October 24, 1981),[2] better known by her stage name Tila Tequila, is an American model, singer, television and social media personality.[3] She has also used the names Tila Nguyen, Miss Tila and Tornado Thien. Born in Singapore and raised in Houston, Texas, Tequila moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to pursue her modeling career. She first gained recognition for her active presence on social networking websites. After being featured as a model in numerous men's magazines (including Playboy, Stuff and Maxim), she made her reality television debut on the VH1 show Surviving Nugent (2003). After becoming the most popular person on Myspace,[4] Tequila was offered the opportunity to star in her own reality television series. Her bisexuality-themed dating show, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila (2007), aired for two seasons and became MTV's second-highest-rated series premiere of that year.

In addition to her career in modeling and television, Tequila also pursued her career as a recording artist. She was the lead singer of the bands Beyond Betty Jean and Jealousy, before launching a solo career. Her debut single "I Love U" was released in 2007 to mixed reviews. Despite having strong online sales, the song failed to enter any charts. Tequila followed with several independently released singles, including "Stripper Friends" and "Paralyze". In 2010, she released her second EP, Welcome to the Dark Side. Her book, Hooking Up With Tila Tequila: A Guide to Love, Fame, Happiness, Success, and Being the Life of the Party, was published in 2008.

She has long used social media and personal blogs to post her comments and has made posts that are described as antisemitic and homophobic. In a 2013 blog post, she expressed her support and admiration of Adolf Hitler.[5] When these comments came to light in 2015, they led to her removal from Celebrity Big Brother; she blamed depression and drug use for the comments.[6][7] She has also made associations with Neo-Nazism and the alt-right.[8][9]

  1. ^ Kaufman, Gil (April 13, 2009). "Tila Tequila Hit By Death Hoax On Twitter". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference allmusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Stack, Tim (May 9, 2008). "The Tao of Tila Tequila". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  4. ^ Weiner, Jonah (April 11, 2006). "Tila Tequila, the first star of MySpace". Slate. Archived from the original on July 4, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Tila Tequila Kicked Off Celebrity Big Brother For Anti-Semitic Comments". People. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Barrouquere, Brett (May 15, 2017). "Tila Tequila is God, at least that's what the contract says". Houston Chronicle.