‘This is so unfair’: Glee star Naya Rivera’s ex Ryan Dorsey pays tribute
Naya Rivera’s ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, has broken his silence after the former Glee star’s shocking death by drowning.
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Naya Rivera’s ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, has broken his silence after the former Glee star’s drowning.
In a moving Instagram post, the 37-year-old actor said the death of Rivera, the mother of his four-year-old son Josey, had left a hole “in everyone’s hearts”.
He and the actress, 33, had been swimming with their son the day before her shocking drowning death in Lake Piru, California, he revealed in his Instagram post.
Josey was found asleep and drifting in the boat on July 8 three hours after Rivera rented it at the popular recreational area, around an hour’s drive northwest of Los Angeles.
The little boy told authorities he and his mother had been swimming in the lake, but that his mother never came back into the boat.
At the time of the search for Rivera, Dorsey was pictured wading into the water at Lake Piru with Rivera’s family.
“This is so unfair... there’s not enough words to express the hole left in everyone’s hearts,” Dorsey wrote on Instagram Saturday. “I can’t believe this is life now. I don’t know if I’ll ever believe it. You were just here... We were just in the back swimming with Josey the day before. Life just isn’t fair.”
The pair married in 2014 after an on-off relationship before splitting in 2018.
RIVERA’S CO-STAR TELLS OF SHOCK
Glee star Heather Morris has paid an emotional tribute to her screen wife Naya Rivera, following the actress’s shock death in a boating accident.
“We know from speaking with her son, that he and Naya swam in the lake together at some point during their journey. It was during that time that her son described being helped into the boat by Naya, who boosted him onto the deck from behind,” the sheriff said. “He told investigators that he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water.”
Morris, who played Rivera’s love interest on Glee, said the pair had “the most beautiful friendship built out of love and understanding”.
“You are and always will be the strongest and most resilient human being I know, and I vowed to carry that with me as I continue to live my life.”
Rivera died in an accidental drowning while boating with her son on a California lake on July 8.
The actress and singer played Santana Lopez, who ended up marrying Morris’s character Brittany Pierce in the hit TV show. Their onscreen pairing was hugely significant for the LGBTQ community.
Morris remembered their last interaction in her Instagram post, when Rivera and her son left two plants on her doorstep.
“I planted those succulents and I look at them everyday and think of you,” she wrote. “I still listen to your EP on repeat because from the moment I heard it, it struck me and I always wished the world knew more of your voice.”
She wrote that Rivera “constantly taught me lessons about grief, about beauty and poise, about being strong [and] resilient”.
“Yet, the utmost important lesson I learned most of all from you was being a consistent and loving friend. You were the first to check in, the first to ask questions, the first to listen … you cherished our friendship and I never took that for granted,” she wrote.
“I speak to you everyday because I know you’re still with me and even though I’m feeling greedy that we don’t get more time together, I cherish every moment we had and hold it close to my heart.”
Fellow Glee star Matthew Morrison described Rivera as “a such a powerful force, in both her personal life and in her work”.
Gwyneth Paltrow, who is married to Glee creator Brad Falchuk, posted a video of one of her appearances on the show, during which she performed Stevie Nicks’ classic Landslide with Rivera and Morris.
“Getting to sing in this trio with her was such a special moment,” she wrote via Instagram.
“I am in utter shock and disbelief that someone so full of life and passion and talent is no longer with us. And completely heart broken for her family.”
Dot-Marie Jones, who played Coach Bieste on the show, described Rivera as “a gift”.
“It’s hard to fathom, you know? It’s heartbreaking,” she said during a tearful appearance on US talk show, The Talk.
“It’s one of those things you see on the news and then it’s like, ‘God bless those people.’ And now, we’re those people.”
INCREDIBLE GIFT FOR STAR’S SON
The creators of Glee have revealed they started a college fund for Rivera’s son, after her tragic death.
“Naya was more than just an actor on our show — she was our friend,” Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan said in a joint statement.
“Our hearts go out to her family, especially her mom, Yolanda, who was a big part of the ‘Glee’ family, and her son Josey.
The creators revealed they were setting up a fund for the 4-year-old, who was fond alone in a boat after Rivera drowned.
“The three of us are currently in the process of creating a college fund for the beautiful son Naya loved most of all,” the Glee creators said.
Meantime, Rivera’s ex-husband Ryan Dorsey – Josey’s father – has told friends he is in a “nightmare” after Rivera’s sudden death.
“Ryan has barely slept,” a source told People magazine.
“It’s just a nightmare. Although he wasn’t with Naya, it’s Josey’s mom. Josey needs his mom.”
‘ACCIDENTAL DROWNING’
It comes as an autopsy on Rivera’s body ruled that her death was an accidental drowning.
Rivera, 33, disappeared during a boating trip with her four-year-old son last Wednesday, and her body was found floating in Lake Piru.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office formally confirmed Rivera’s identity using dental records, it said in a statement.
No traumatic injuries or evidence of alcohol or other toxins were found. Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said there was no indication of suicide, and suggested that the lake’s strong currents could have caused a fatal accident.
“The idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting — it was unanchored — and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself,” he said.
Her son Josey was found asleep and drifting in the boat three hours after Rivera rented it at the popular recreational area, around an hour’s drive northwest of Los Angeles.
Hollywood stars paid tributes to Rivera, including her former castmates on smash-hit musical television series Glee, some of whom gathered at the shore of the lake.
Officials believe that Rivera died trying to save her son by getting him on their drifting boat after they had spent some time in the afternoon swimming.
Sheriff Ayub said Rivera’s son Josey “described being helped into the boat by Naya, who boosted him onto the deck from behind”.
“He looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water”.
The Glee actor’ body was found floating near the surface in the northeastern corner of Lake Piru, about six days after she went missing.
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The actress’s family rushed to the lake when it was announced a body had been found and some of her Glee castmates, including Heather Morris, were also there.
They held hands on the shore while waiting for more information from the star’s family and from the authorities.
Sheriff Ayub said her body was found in the northeastern portion of the lake – which is 20m deep – an “empty canyon” of growth.
“We believe she was concealed within some of the shrubbery on the floor bed of the lake,” he said.
Happening now: A body has been found at Lake Piru this morning. The recovery is in progress. A news conference will take place at 2 pm at the lake.
— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 13, 2020
Today's search for Naya Rivera has concluded. The operation will continue Monday morning. pic.twitter.com/YZ3TTqhOUI
— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 13, 2020
Meantime, it was revealed that Rivera texted a photo to a relative shortly before she drowned, Us Weekly reported.
Rivera took a photo of her son, Josey, near a cove on Lake Piru about 90 minutes to two hours before he was found alone on the rented boat. The photo provided an important clue about the location of Rivera’s final moments.
“We found where that cove was,” Robert Inglis of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team said.
Search crews used the background of the photo to help focus on the spot Rivera went missing.
Dive members were sent to those two locations and searched them extensively.
“There’s no evidence to say she left the water. It appears to be 100 per cent just a tragic drowning,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Shannon King told People.
“We interviewed her son and there was nothing that we learned from her son that would have suggested that this was suicide,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Office sergeant Kevin Donoghue told People.
“Everything that we’ve learned so far leads to this being some sort of water recreational accident.
“To say definitively what actually happened, we really can’t say. We just don’t know, it’s a mystery,” he said.
“We’re still investigating, we’re still searching. We’re trying to uncover clues as we go.
“But so far, we really don’t have a lot of information to make any guesses as to what could have happened.”
GLEE STAR’S CHILLING THEORY
Glee actor Kevin McHale said he believes his late co-star Cory Monteith – who died of a drug and alcohol overdose – helped “find” Rivera, because her body was recovered on the anniversary of his death.
“I’m not religious by any means, but you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that Cory didn’t help find our girl today,” McHale posted on Twitter.
McHale said the co-stars shared a special bond and “in many ways, were the male and female versions of one other”.
I'm not religious by any means, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that Cory didn't help find our girl today. These 2, in many ways, were the male and female versions of one another. So nice, cared deeply, were stupidly talented, the most fun, and really really good people. https://t.co/qsvThOJxL7
— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) July 14, 2020
My Naya, my Snixxx, my Bee. I legitimately can not imagine this world without you. pic.twitter.com/qX9t1Uhx01
— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) July 14, 2020
STAR’S FINAL MOMENTS REVEALED
Footage emerged of Rivera’s chilling final moments. Security video, released by the Ventura County Sherrif’s office, showed Rivera arriving at the Lake Piru car park in her black Mercedes G-Wagon.
In it, she opens the passenger door and helps her son out of the vehicle, before the pair made their way towards the dock.
After talking to staff, they boarded the boat and are seen heading north on the lake, in the footage.
US authorities used side-scanning sonar technology and cadaver dogs in their six-day search for Rivera across Lake Piru, which is more than three kilometres long and 40 metres at its deepest point.
1/2 Here’s the ROV used by @TulareSheriff in the search for Naya Rivera at Lake Piru today. This is one of many resources being used, along with side scan sonar, dogs, and divers. pic.twitter.com/LkeI04HIMJ
— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 11, 2020
2/2 Here’s an example of the underwater visibility at a 30-foot depth in Lake Piru. pic.twitter.com/YGNNUdmPQ4
— Ventura Co. Sheriff (@VENTURASHERIFF) July 11, 2020
Captain Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff’s office said the side-scanning sonar technology provides crews with a detailed image, which then allows them to “focus on specific things rather than putting divers in the water when they are feeling around because they can’t see.”
Authorities also posted underwater footage to detail just how difficult visibility is at the lake.
‘TOMORROW IS NOT PROMISED’
Rivera shared a post with fans in the days before she disappeared telling them “tomorrow is not promised.”
Her haunting words were posted just five days before authorities launched a search for the actor.
“No matter the year, circumstance, or strifes, everyday you’re alive is a blessing,” Rivera wrote on Instagram. “Make the most of today and every day you are given. Tomorrow is not promised.”
no matter the year, circumstance, or strifes everyday you're alive is a blessing. make the most of today and every day you are given. tomorrow is not promised pic.twitter.com/O4t7wdqA4k
— Naya Rivera (@NayaRivera) July 2, 2020
And barely a day ago, the star had shared a picture of herself and son, Josey, writing, “Just the two of us”.
Ventura County Deputy Sheriff Chris Dyer said that the lake was a “sanctuary” for Rivera, and that she was very familiar with it and had been going there for years.
“Especially on a Wednesday – no one’s here on a Wednesday so it’s a good day to come. She rented the boat.
Some reports said Rivera’s possessions including a purse, wallet and food were found on the boat. Another wallet is said to have been left in Rivera’s car, a Mercedes G-Wagon which was still parked in a nearby car park.
The star’s ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, was seen holding Josey as he left Rivera’s sister’s LA home.
HOLLYWOOD REACTS TO STAR’S DISAPPEARANCE
Hollywood stars have taken to social media to express their devastation at the shock disappearance of the former Glee star.
It is the latest in a series of tragedies to hit the cast of the popular show.
The star’s young son Josey Hollis Dorsey was found asleep and alone on a boat on Lake Piru, in Southern California.
Rivera’s former Glee co-star Heather Morris said: “We need all the prayers we can get to bring our Naya back to us … we need your love and light.”
Fellow Glee star, Harry Shum Jr, who played Mike Chang, wrote “praying”, as Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins) and Max Adler (David Karofsky) also posted concerned messages on social media.
Rivera’s ex-fiancee Big Sean didn’t comment directly on the tragedy but liked a series of tweets demanding that the search for her should continue.
Zack Teperman, a publicist who said Rivera was “one of the first people I had the honour of working with”, said he was “in complete disbelief and shock right now”.
“Was just messaging Naya a few weeks back. This can’t be true. Prayers for her little boy,” he said last night.
POPULAR SHOW ‘CURSED’
Glee has been hit by a string of tragedies, scandals and heartbreak, spanning the deaths of multiple cast members under tragic circumstances, criminal charges, and a recent tabloid controversy involving the show’s main star, Lea Michele.
The so-called Glee curse seemingly began in 2013 with the sudden death of Cory Monteith – who played Finn Hudson – from an accidental alcohol and heroin overdose.
Monteith’s death, aged 31, in a hotel room in Vancouver, was written into Glee via an episode titled “The Quarterback”, though the show never revealed how his character died.
The discovery of Rivera’s body has occurred, coincidentally, on the seventh anniversary of Monteith’s death, according to the New York Post.
In 2017, Rivera’s ex-boyfriend, Mark Salling – who played the character of Noah “Puck” Puckerman – pleaded guilty to child porn possession charges.
He was found to have downloaded thousands of illicit images over eight months in 2015.
And in 2016, the New York Post reported that a woman had accused Salling of forcing her to have sex with him at a hotel four years prior.
He was not charged with rape, as the LA County district attorney cited a delay in reporting the attack and insufficient evidence, according to the New York Post.
Salling killed himself in January 2018, aged 35, while he was awaiting sentencing on the child pornography charges.
In her memoir Sorry Not Sorry, Rivera – who played Santana Lopez – revealed: “When Mark dumped me, I thought it was the worst thing ever, but can you imagine if that didn’t happen?”
“And I was laying there in bed when the battering ram came through the door?” she said, referring to his arrest.
Rivera also wrote in the tell-all that she had no regrets about her past relationships: “Unless, of course, that relationship was with someone who had a sizeable stash of child porn on his computer. Then, by all means, regret everything”.
Last month, Michele – who played Rachel Berry in the series – was the subject of a huge gossip scandal, with multiple co-stars accusing her of on-set bullying and diva-like behaviour.
Former Glee guest star Samantha Ware blasted star Michele, 33, on Twitter, saying she made Ware’s time on the show “a living hell”.
She accused Michele of “traumatic” behaviour including threatening to “sh*t in my wig”, in response to Michele’s tweet supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
“While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or colour of their skin, that’s not really the point,” Michele said, in a poorly-received apology on social media.
“What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people.”
The scandal promoted a string of other former co-stars to make similar accusations against Michele, who is pregnant with her first child, causing her to be sacked from social media endorsements.
Michele was also said to have had a feud with Rivera on the set of Glee, though Rivera wrote in her memoir: “I don’t hate Lea, and I never have”.
“She had a hard time separating work from our outside friendship, whereas it was a lot easier for me,” Rivera wrote.
“Lea was a lot more sensitive, though, and sometimes it seemed like she blamed me for anything and everything that went wrong.”
Originally published as ‘This is so unfair’: Glee star Naya Rivera’s ex Ryan Dorsey pays tribute