What Happened to Rickey Smiley's Son? Here's What We Know

May 2024 · 4 minute read

What happened to Rickey Smiley's son? The comedian opened up about his son Brandon's explanation for dying. Learn more in regards to the state of affairs right here.

Leila Kozma - Author

Comedian Rickey Smiley has proudly raised a family of more than five youngsters. As the celebrity instructed the hosts of The Real in 2015, he has not handiest been taking a look after his children, however he additionally determined to take in younger other folks from the wider community.

As Rickey emphasized at the display, having buried his father when he was once round 6 years old made him want to transform the most efficient dad he may ever be.

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Since elevating his sons and kin, Rickey has persisted several challenging occasions involving his kids. However, in 2023, the radio persona spread out about some other rough time for him and his family.

Keep studying to to find out what happened to Rickey Smiley’s son and what he mentioned about the tragedy.

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What happened to Rickey Smiley’s son?

On Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, Rickey posted a video on his Instagram account. He recorded himself strolling across the airport as he defined what happened to his son Brandon Smiley.

He captioned the video with, “My son gave up the ghost.” He then defined that he was once on his manner to Birmingham, Ala., after studying that Brandon died at 32 years previous.

“I simply had bad news this morning. I'm at the means to the airport to get to Birmingham. I just need everyone to pray for me, pray for our circle of relatives," Rickey said in his Instagram video. "My son, Brandon Smiley, has passed on to the great beyond this morning."

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The former ComicView host said he was “OK” but asked his followers to pray for Brandon’s mother, Brenda, and his siblings, Malik and sisters D'Essence, Taylor, and Aaryn. He also asked fans to keep Brandon’s 3-year-old daughter, Storm, in their prayers.

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Since Brandon's passing, Ricky has opened up about his potential cause of death.

While still unconfirmed by a toxicology report, Ricky speculates that Brandon's death was due to his substance use. In the March 2 episode of Today, he added that the family "made several makes an attempt to try to send him to get the assist he needed."

During the episode, Ricky made a plea to continue the conversation on substance use. "I feel the fogeys are having the conversation. The problem is getting the children to pay attention to these conversations."

Viewers of Rickey’s TVOne show Rickey Smiley For Real remember seeing Brandon on the program. Brandon also followed in his father’s footsteps and was a comedian and actor who enjoyed posting funny memes on his Instagram.

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However, Brandon often showed his serious side and opened up about his experiences in the military before he died.

He also enjoyed posting videos and photos of his daughter and siblings. In one of his last posts, he shared a video of his family spending Thanksgiving with his grandmother after she had to spend the holiday in the hospital.

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Rickey Smiley’s nephew, who he raised, died by suicide in 2021.

Unfortunately, Brandon’s January 2023 death isn’t the first time Rickey has experienced a public family tragedy. Rickey's nephew reportedly died by suicide in the spring of 2021.

After news broke about Rickey’s nephew’s death, some claimed the rocky relationship could’ve led to his death. Rickey, who helped raise Craig with his sister, vehemently denied involvement in his nephew’s death.

"I'm not answerable for anyone's demise. I've been in my nephew's life since he was once 4 or 5 years outdated. And his mom used to be kind enough to let me take him places and let him do stuff with me and my youngsters," Rickey said in a video on social media. "Just like different nieces and nephews because a large number of them that got here to my house and did not do what they have been supposed to do."

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Rickey added that he tried to help Craig as much as he could while he was alive, including using his “connections” to find him opportunities outside their hometown.

While Rickey seemingly moved on after he shared his side of the story, the comedian didn’t know he would lose his eldest son less than two years later.

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In his January 2023 video about Brandon, Rickey explained the toll his son’s death was already taking on him. He stated that, for the first time in his life, he related to his grandfather’s emotional state after he lost Rickey’s father.

“Now I see what my granddaddy went through and why he felt the way he felt,” Rickey reflected. “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."

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