Rickey Smiley has announced the death of his son Brandon Smiley, who passed away this weekend at 32. A cause of death has yet to be revealed.
On Sunday (Jan. 29), the comedian took to Instagram to share the tragic news, writing that his son’s death had occurred earlier that morning. “I lost my oldest son #BrandonSmiley this morning,” the 54-year-old wrote in the caption of the post. “I’m okay, but please pray for my son’s mother Brenda, his siblings and his daughter Storm,” he added.
In an accompanying clip, Smiley, who said he was headed to the airport to catch a flight to Birmingham, AL at the time of its recording, expressed his grief over the loss of his eldest son. “I just want all [of] our cousins and different family members to pray and be strong” he asked while calling for the public to “pray for everyone that was raised with Brandon.”
He also attributed his decision to go public with the news of his son’s passing to his desire to have the news come directly from him, rather than the rumor mill and social media. “I hate to announce this, I just want to give it to you before you hear it in the streets,” Smiley reasoned.
As he continued to gather his belongings while leaving his home, he continued to lament the shock of Brandon’s passing. “Life come with a whole bunch of twists and turns, I don’t care where you go,” he offered, further expounding on his disbelief over the tragedy. “I just don’t know what to do, I can’t think. I just can’t think straight.”
The Rickey Smiley Morning Show host then asked for “traveling grace” during his flight before comparing his current emotions with that of his grandparents following the death of Smiley’s own father. “Now I see … why he felt the way he felt,” Rickey said. “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.”
Brandon’s death comes two years after Smiley’s daughter Aaryn was shot multiple times during a road rage incident in Houston in 2020. Aaryn, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, has since fully recovered from her injuries.
VIBE sends our condolences to the Smiley family.