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American stand-up comedian Rickey Smiley recently addressed his son Brandon's death during his appearance on the Today show, saying that he might have died from a drug overdose. He revealed further details about what happened on January 29, 2023, saying that he received a call from Brandon's girlfriend who found him in an unresponsive state.
Smiley mentioned that while he was preparing to leave for Georgia, his daughter Taylor called him and said that Brandon is dead. The comedian said that although the incident left him in shock, he had prepared himself for this situation for a long time, knowing that it would happen someday.
Smiley stated that he tried his best to send Brandon to rehab and that a month before his death, he was baptized. The father further added that he was not aware of how Brandon had developed a drug addiction, as he continued:
"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. You don't have to be in the hood."
Rickey Smiley's son was 32 years old at the time of his death
On January 30, 2023, Rickey Smiley took to Instagram to share the news of his son's death. In the post, he shared a video and wrote that he is fine but requested everyone to pray for Brandon's mother, Brenda, his siblings, and daughter Storm. He added:
"I just want everybody to pray for me, pray for our family. My son, Brandon Smiley has passed away this morning. I'm about to go get on a flight and try to get to Birmingham. Lord have mercy, Jesus."
Brandon was 32 years old at the time of demise, but the cause of death was not revealed at the time. Addressing the same, Rickey Smiley said:
"Now I see what my granddaddy went through and why he felt the way he felt. My granddaddy went through this sh*t with my dad and somehow, here I am going through the same thing my grandparents went through. So just pray for our family."
Two years before Brandon's death, Rickey Smiley's daughter Aaryn was the victim of a shooting incident while on her way to Whataburger. Speaking to his YouTube subscribers in July 2020, Rickey said that he was lucky that his daughter was still alive.
Rickey Smiley is the father of five children – Brandon Smiley, Malik Smiley, Aaryn Smiley, D'Essence Smiley, and Craig Smiley. While the first four are his biological children, Craig was adopted by the stand-up comedian.
Rickey Smiley is mostly popular as a host of shows like ComicView and Dish Nation. He has been featured on various TV shows like Showtime at Apollo, Players, Let's Stay Together, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Unsung Hollywood, and more.
He has also been featured in films like Friday After Next, Latham Entertainment Presents, Sweet Hideaway, First Sunday, Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, Baggage Claim, F**k Child Support, Iron Grit, and Miracles Across 125th Street.
