Arts & Entertainment

Endurance performance

Out gay Cirque vet headlining new ‘Quidam’ show

Published

15 years ago

November 10, 2011

Mark Ward as the ringmaster in ‘Quidam.’ It plays Washington for eight performances next week. (Photo courtesy of Cirque Du Soleil)

Mark Ward always knew he wanted to be out professionally.

The Cirque Du Soleil vet plays the ringmaster in the company’s latest show “Quidam,” which comes to the Verizon Center next week. Ward says coming out is an individual choice that each person should make for himself.

He joined Cirque du Soleil as a performer in 1993. Not wanting to keep aspects of his life hidden, Ward let the company know that he wanted to be out. He says that there was never an issue with the hiring managers and that the company was supportive from the start.

He says he always wanted “to lead an authentic life.”

“I think that it’s an individual journey, so I couldn’t say that it’s good or bad [to come out],” he says. “I just know that as far as people — gay and lesbian people — accepting themselves, that’s a personal journey. My time may not be your time. If I saw someone and I felt like, ‘Oh you shouldn’t be in the closet, you shouldn’t be hiding yourself,’ I think that’s wrong of me because I got in that person’s shoes. I like to support that person, try to give them the tools they would need to come out and not be hidden or behind the veil, of course, but I think that’s an individual journey, I really do.”

Since joining Cirque, Ward has performed in about 6,500 Cirque shows, without missing a single performance.

“For me, the challenging thing is also the thing that has kept me around for this amount of time,” he says. “I have to be in constant communication with the audience and I have to be adaptable … what works in Milwaukee, when I come to D.C., may not get the same responses. I have to be open to the public and the information they are feeding me. So I have to have a keen sense of awareness. That keeps me focused.”

In “Quidam,” Ward plays ringleader John, guiding the audience through the performances that tell the story of Zoé, a young girl searching for something more to her life. Her parents, distant and apathetic, ignore her. To her, life has lost meaning. Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world — the world of Quidam — where she meets characters who encourage her to free her soul. The international cast of “Quidam” features 52 acrobats, musicians, singers and characters.

This being his first time to Washington, Ward is looking forward to catching up with local friends and exploring Washington.

“I’m first hoping to go out and eat at some really cool places … and I’ll probably just run myself ragged trying to see everything.”

“Quidam” is at the Verizon Center from Nov. 16-20 for eight performances. Tickets start at $35. Visit cirquedusoleil.com for information.

Related Topics:Cirque du Soleil Mark Ward Out & About Quidan

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Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

5 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.