The 54-year-old actor/comedian says his family has not received a toxicology report, but he believes that his son Brandon died of overdose because of his history of drug abuse.
- March 3, 2023
AceShowbiz - Rickey Smiley didn't see it coming. The actor/comedian, who has been mourning the loss of his eldest child Brandon, thought that his son "was doing better" amid his struggles with drug abuse before his shocking passing on January 29.
Giving his first interview since the family tragedy, Rickey revealed the reason why he believes his son died of possible overdose and his family's attempts to help him before his death. "I was in Dallas in my apartment getting ready to watch the playoff and his girlfriend called," he said on "Today" on Thursday, March 2. "She said that, in her words, that he had OD'd."
Rickey said the family has not received a toxicology report and an official cause of death is pending, but foul play or trauma are not suspected to have played a role in Brandon's death. "This is just what we're speculating according to his girlfriend, who found him unresponsive," he went on noting about his son's suspected cause of death.
"He was struggling with that," the 54-year-old prankster added. "His mother and I made several attempts to try to send him to get the help that he needed - send him to rehab. We thought that he was doing better - he had just joined the church and he had just gotten baptized again probably a month before he passed away."
"He used, and it killed him," Rickey bitterly acknowledged. He shared that he was "shocked, but not surprised" about Brandon's death.
As to how he's been dealing with the tragedy, he said, "I'm doing good. I still have to do my morning show. I still have to press my way through, pray my way through. Lean on my spirituality."
The "Rickey Smiley Morning Show" host went on speaking about his goal to raise more awareness about the issues surrounding drug addiction. "We just assume that if you're in a good school district or you're in a gated community or everything is going good that these kids are not doing drugs," he said. "You don't have to be in the hood to succumb to drug abuse."
The comic claimed that he doesn't "know why" or "know how" his son ended up battling addiction as both he and Brandon's mother Brenda "are all clean and sober."
