Samira Close

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About

Samira Close is the drag queen name for the Brazilian singer, gamer and streamer Wenner Pereira. The 29-year-old became a frequently referenced figure in the gaming universe, most notably among fans of online games like Free Fire and Fortnite. Samira Close also gained a large following within the LGBTQ+ community.

Online History

Samira Close's livestreams started in 2015 on Twitch TV^[1]. The streamer used to broadcast Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBAs) that were successful at the time, such as League of Legends and DotA 2. One of her first videos on Twitch is a 5×5 ARAM match in LoL. The video, uploaded in 2015, received 44,642 views in eight years (seen below).

At first, Samira didn't wear any make-up or a wig on the live streams. The idea to be a drag queen was coined after requests and cash donations from spectators. In an article with TechTudo,^[2] Samira explained, "They donated 100 BRL to me and I bought a wig."

Facebook Gaming

The Brazilian drag queen has had an exclusive partnership with Facebook Gaming since 2019, accumulating 758,000 followers on the platform as of April 2023. Samira has an average of 10,000 to 15,000 people per video.^[3] She uses comedy and LGBTQ+ content on stream to draw attention among gamers. In Free Fire, for example, a game mode allows up to four people to participate simultaneously in a confrontation. Users from all over Brazil interact with "Madrinha" (Godmother), as she is called by fans. On October 24th, 2020, she uploaded a clip^[4] with highlights of the mobile game she played, garnering 27,000 views and 3,400 likes in three years (seen below).

Online Presence

As of April 4, 2023, Samira Close has 922,000 followers on her YouTube^[5] channel, 417,500 followers on Twitter^[6] and 690,00 followers on Instagram.^[7] The drag queen also released a song on April 30th, 2019, called "Madrugada." The song has 2.5 million views and 178,000 likes on YouTube^[8] (seen below).

Online, Samira has a stable community of fans who engage with her gaming livestreams and share memes on social media in support of the drag queen. For example, Twitter^[9] user @R1tt5r posted a Fangirl meme with images of the streamer on July 16th, 2020, receiving 3,200 likes and 1,000 retweets in three years (seen below).

Fans of the drag queen create Photoshopped memes and edited clips of her streams on social media. For example, Twitter^[11] user @acervim posted a clip of Samira telling a story of a time she was working with customer service, receiving 23,600 views and 2,100 likes in five months (seen below).

Some catchphrases of the streamer are turned into TikTok sounds to be lip-synced by fans. For instance, an audio of Samira explaining how she came out to her family became the baseline for other creators, like TikToker^[12] @diegurivera, who reimagined the scene in a video posted on April 31st, 2022. The post (seen below) garnered 2.5 million plays and 470,000 likes in a year.

Personal Life

Wenner Pereira was born on January 14th, 1994, and grew up in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. As the drag queen Samira Close, she is considered by many as one of the pioneers^[10] in Brazil's gaming community and an LGBTQ+ advocate for representation and inclusivity with online games.