Comedian Rickey Smiley recently took to Instagram to announce that his oldest son, Brandon Smiley, has passed away. The reason behind his passing remains unknown. Netizens have since taken to social media to share their condolences with the family.
While returning to his hometown, Rickey Smiley took to his official Instagram account and told his 3.8 million followers that his son had passed away. He wrote in the caption:
“I lost my oldest son #BrandonSmiley this morning. I’m okay, but please pray for my son’s mother Brenda, his siblings and his daughter Storm.”
In the video, the The Rickey Smiley Show host shared:
“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.”
Although he did not mention the reason behind his son’s passing, Rickey Smiley stated:
“Now I see what my granddaddy went through and why he felt the way he felt. My granddaddy went through this s**t with my dad and somehow, here I am going through the same thing my grandparents went through. So just pray for our family.”
Brandon Smiley was 32 years old at the time of his passing.
How many children does Rickey Smiley have?
The 54-year-old is the father of five children. His biological children are D’Essence Elizabeth, who is 25, Malik and Aaryn Smiley, who are both 21, and Brandon.
He also adopted Craig Smiley.
Rickey Smiley has not divulged much information about the mother of his children in the past and what led to his separation from her.
While announcing the death of Brandon, Rickey mentioned that the former is survived by his mother Brenda. In an interview with Pierre Edwards on the Panic Room podcast, Rickey revealed that he was married to Brenda for 12 years. When asked about his wife, he shared that she did not cheat on him, but went on to add that he was a “different kind of guy."
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Rickey’s family has been hit with tragedy. His daughter Aaryn became a victim of a random act of gun violence in Houston, Texas, in July 2020. She was traveling to a restaurant alongside her boyfriend when an assailant opened fire.
Following the incident, Aaryn revealed on social media:
“The fact that the bullets that went through my legs were armored rifle bullets made to go through anything (how they got through the car) but the one that would have hit me in the head was not that kind and ended up lodged in the car. Words can’t describe how grateful I am to be alive write now.”
It has since been understood that his daughter recovered from the injury.
Netizens take to social media to share their condolences with Rickey Smiley’s family
Several celebrities and fans flooded Rickey’s comment section with condolences messages and shared their support. A few comments online read:
Brandon Smiley is also survived by his girlfriend and mother of his child, Brooke Antonette.