Drag Queen Pattie Gonia Shares a Statement About Patagonia’s Lawsuit

The drag queen Pattie Gonia has gone from a cult following to making headlines after she was sued by the environmentally-minded Patagonia clothing brand.

Patagonia filed the lawsuit, claiming trademark infringement due to the similarity between the brand's name and Wyn Wiley's stage name. The company alleges that Wiley is appropriating the company's name and mission, damaging the brand. However, Wiley's fans have been aggressively speaking out in defense of the performer.

And Wiley mostly kept silent for her part, she finally decided to take her fight public, letting her fans know exactly what had been going on behind closed doors. As such, Pattie Gonia released a statement on Instagram about the Patagonia lawsuit, partially to let people know how she's feeling but also as part of a plea to the company.

While both sides have mentioned that they have tried to resolve the issue outside of court, it seems like the court of public opinion is now weighing in.

On May 27, 2027, Wiley used the Pattie Gonia Instagram page to open up about the lawsuit filed in January 2026, in which she claimed that the company accused her of causing "irreparable" harm to the brand. In her statement, she tried to clarify some of what was happening behind the scenes, claiming that Patagonia wasn't giving the public the full story.

"Patagonia told the media they're only suing me for $1," she wrote before alleging that they were actually trying to cost her more than that.

"What they're actually trying to do is take away my name permanently and threaten me with more than $1 million dollars in legal fees."

Wiley went on to say that this shouldn't be considered a "brand conflict," since she was using her name as an activist and trying to fight for some of the very same things that Patagonia points to in its mission statement.

The statement further alleged that this would also take jobs away from the people Wiley employs.

Wiley went on to accuse the company of betraying its core mission, asking why they were "suing a climate activist" if the company was "in business to save the home planet."

The comments were filled with well-wishers who wrote that they were standing by Wiley. "This is not the Patagonia I know," one fan wrote. "I hope they drop the lawsuit and focus their efforts on the environmental advocacy we all so desperately need right now."

USA Today reported that Patagonia had released a statement, saying, "The last thing we wanted was a legal fight with someone who shares our values, but we must protect our business and employees."

As for the lawsuit itself, the company said it was fighting back over trademark issues, saying that Wiley's persona has confused customers about her association with the company, noting that the drag queen's merchandise uses fonts and designs that resemble the company's.

It sounds like the conflict between the two dates back further than the January 2026 filing, as the company had been approached in 2022 about Wiley's on-stage persona. The company alleges that they had come to an agreement at the time about what Wiley could and couldn't do with the stage name, but that Wiley failed to hold up her end of the bargain.

With neither Wiley nor Patagonia looking likely to back down anytime soon, I doubt we've heard the last about this conflict.