Joshua Kelley, Navy drag queen, leverages TikTok to aid Navy recruiting

Then YN3 Joshua Kelley does one of his drag queen shows on the USS Reagan. (MC3 Charles J Scudella III/Navy)

Joshua Kelley, Yeoman 2nd Class (YN2), stated that he was a “Digital Ambassador” for the U.S. Navy. He happens to be a TikTok influencer. The Digital Ambassador program was an effort that the Navy utilized to try to leverage the Internet to reach potential applicants on behalf of Navy recruiting. Kelley claims to have done drag shows for officers.

From Fox News:

Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who goes by the stage name “Harpy Daniels,” announced back in November 2022 that he was the Navy’s “Digital Ambassador.” Kelley has over 1,300,000 likes on TikTok.

While Kelley’s Instagram bio shows that the performer’s opinions “are not endorsed by DoD or DoN,” the drag queen claims to have danced in drag for service officers on a number of different occasions, sharing one video from 2018.

The Digital Ambassador initiative that Kelley participated in ran from October 2022 to March 2023 and was “designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates,” a Navy spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The reason, the spokesperson added, was that the Navy is navigating “the most challenging recruiting environment it has faced since the start of the all-volunteer force.”

The spokesperson continued: “The Navy did not compensate YN2 Kelley or any others for being Navy Digital Ambassadors. The pilot has concluded and we are now evaluating the program and how it will exist in the future.”

The Navy’s attempts to increase interest among young people comes amidst a historic recruitment crisis. A survey from the Ronald Reagan Institute found that only 13% of 18-29-year-olds are “highly willing” to join the military. Twenty-five percent are “somewhat willing” and 26% are “not willing at all.”

Fox News has additional information on this story.

Category: Navy