Branden Miller is an actor and comedian known for creating and portraying the fictional Joanne the Scammer, also known as Joanne Prada. The character gained notoriety for Miller's Twitter account, which posts from the perspective of Joanne, and Miller's Instagram account, which consists of various videos of the character of Joanne. As of May 2018, his Instagram account has nearly two million followers and his Twitter account has nearly 700,000 followers. His social media posts often discuss themes of scamming, being "fake" or "petty", and parody on being a woman of Caucasian descent.

 

Branden Miller was raised in Hopewell, Virginia, and adopted by Buddy and Veronica Miller. In 2002, his adoptive father passed away due to cancer.

 

Miller claims he had a difficult time discussing his homosexuality with his classmates, and described himself as "trade". He came out to his family and friends after his sister discovered gay porn on his computer, and says he was not shown support from his mother, who claimed his sexuality was unbiblical. Miller discovered at the age of 17 that he was adopted, and that he was born to a mother of Puerto Rican descent and a black father of unspecified heritage.

 

After becoming aware of his adoption, Miller began to dress in drag every day for several months. He dropped out of high school before graduation.

 

Before creating the character of Joanne, Miller began starring in pornographic videos on "cam sites" at the age of 18, under the pseudonym "Playboi Branden". In his pornographic videos, he would "act straight" in order to appeal to those who fetishized "gay-for-pay" men.

 

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