The Untold Truth Of Joy Villa

It was a dress that made you look twice. (You may have even looked away twice.) On Feb. 10, 2019, singer-songwriter Joy Villa attended the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, sashaying across the red carpet in a politically-motivated garment primed for maximum shock value. As The Hollywood Reporter noted, the "black-and-white gown" cribbed the "brick motif" of Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall, transforming Villa into a walking endorsement of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall between America and Mexico.

There was little room for misinterpretation. The phrase "Build the Wall" was emblazoned across the back of the dress. Villa wore sprigs of barbed wire on either shoulder strap "to mimic the top of a security fence," according to THR. On top of her "spiky headpiece" and "silver cloak-like dress," Villa's accessory of choice was a red purse with Trump's campaign slogan prominently stamped across the front: "Make America Great Again." No wonder The Grapevine, a progressive blog, asked everyone to "stop inviting Joy Villa to things" in 2018: She's pulled this sort of stunt before.

If you've never heard of Villa — a personality TV Guide called a "perpetual worst-dressed list queen" — you evidently aren't alone: "I honestly feel like Joy Villa is a troll planted at the Grammys to cause press," singer Samantha Scarlette tweeted, "because legitimately NO ONE had ever heard of her prior to the MAGA dress." At the risk of "feeding the troll," let's learn more about Villa and her penchant for widely vilified dresses.

Priorities are priorities. Shortly after arriving at the Staples Center for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Joy Villa tweeted praise for the woman who designed her "gorgeous couture" dress. According to Indy100, her name is Desi Allinger (pictured, right), a self-professed "celebrity fashion designer" who says she's owned her company, Desi Designs Couture, "for five years."

Regarding Villa's fashion sense, Allinger told Indy100 she thinks the musician and occasional actress is "very brave." Villa and Allinger were reportedly introduced a few months prior to the 2019 Grammys, and Allinger claimed they "instantly hit it off. She was humble, kind, open-minded." Although her original idea for Villa's dress was "something very couture and grand," Allinger says she was very much in favor of Villa's "vision" because she thinks of herself as a designer who "embrace[s] challenges."

And now, some mysticism: Allinger told Indy100 that much of the inspiration came to her in a dream. "After Joy told me what she wanted, I slept on it," she said. "That is when I do my creative thinking." Allinger claimed all the pieces clicked into place the next morning: "The barbed wire shoulder piece idea popped in my head ... Then I had to implement the words 'Build The Wall' somewhere ... I sent a sketch to Joy and she loved it." That much is clear.

Twitter's response to Joy Villa's "Build the Wall" dress may have been more entertaining than anything actually seen at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. (One particularly spicy tweet noted that Villa "favors a reveal. As in, she's constantly revealing her desperation.") When it came to responding to those detractors, Villa wasn't above invoking President Donald Trump's name. "I don't care what anyone thinks [about the dress]," Villa tweeted. "I 100% support the wall & our President." It's safe to say Villa might even be somewhat obsessed with POTUS, because two days later, she reiterated her "support for @realDonaldTrump's Wall." Two days after that, she agreed with a fellow Trump supporter, tweeting, "He's funny and forthright. He also DGAF!" On and on, really.

Following the 2019 Grammy Awards, Villa might have been trying to goad Trump into tweeting something favorable about the dress. Two days after the ceremony, the California-born singer zealously commented on a Trump tweet, in which he wrote: "I want to thank all Republicans for the work you have done in dealing with the Radical Left on Border Security." Villa's response was as simple as it gets: "Thank you @realDonaldTrump! #KeepAmericaGreat." The next day, she responded to another Trump tweet, including a photo of herself wearing the dress and resorting to all-caps: "HELL YES!!!! My POTUS!" 

As of press time, Trump has not responded to Villa.

Joy Villa wasn't always MAGA proud. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she confessed: "When Trump came in the picture, at first I hated him ... To me, the Republicans weren't cool." She reportedly even considered herself a Democrat for a spell, though she "was a registered Independent." Villa evidently had a major change of heart upon returning to America in 2016 after "living outside of the U.S." (Where, she didn't say.) That's when her Trump fascination began: "I thought, 'I've got to check this guy out.'"

Perhaps coincidentally, 2016 is also the year Villa was interviewed by Scientology News. Entitled "The Magic of Scientologist and Singer-Songwriter Joy Villa," the article claims Villa found Scientology during a particularly "dark time in her life." Her "first Scientology course" was reportedly "called Overcoming Ups and Downs in Life." Villa believed its teachings set her on a healthier life trajectory: "Scientology gave me tools to survive, tools to create," she said of the controversial faith, boasting that its tenets turned her into "a creative person who is full of power and there is no stopping me."

There was certainly no stopping Villa from squeezing into her first MAGA-inspired dress and attending the 2017 Grammy Awards. She told THR she "was a secret Trumper for months" and expected lots of blowback from critics — not that she'd let the fear get in her way: "The rebel in me was like, 'I have to come out and support the president.'"

Joy Villa's "Build The Wall" gown might be the first-ever dress to come with a disclaimer. "I was worried about the backlash for sure," designer Desi Allinger confessed during her February 2019 appearance on Mornings with Maria on Fox Business Network: "It was a little overwhelming, but I stand behind my work."

But perhaps not on both feet. A photograph posted to the Desi Designs Couture Instagram page suggests Allinger might want some distance from Villa's gown. Although the caption touted Villa's costume as a "one-of-a-kind piece of art from head to toe," it also included this messaging: "DISCLAIMER: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by my clients are not necessarily the same as my views, thoughts, and opinions." 

Meanwhile, don't expect any disclaimers from Villa, who told the Domenick Nati Show that "the liberals can't bully me." She also claimed she'd received countless "death threats" over her pro-Trump fashion stylings, telling Nati she can't even walk the NYC streets without the aid of "armed security" guards. "I just had a new death threat today that said, 'You don't know what I look like, but I know what you look like, so watch your back.'"