Rickey Smiley opened up about the passing of his son.
We previously reported that Smiley announced via social media that his 32-year-old son had passed away. “My oldest son #BrandonSmiley this morning. I’m okay, but please pray for my son’s mother Brenda, his siblings and his daughter Storm.”
During a recent interview on The Today Show, the comedian explains where he was when he learned the news. “You get the call that no parent wants to get — that your child has passed away,” TODAY 3rd Hour co-host Craig Melvin said. “What happened, Rick?”
“I was in Dallas in my apartment getting ready to watch the playoff and his girlfriend called,” Smiley explained. “She said that, in her words, that he had OD’d.”
Smiley revealed that his family has not received a toxicology report and an official cause of death as of yet. “This is just what we’re speculating according to his girlfriend, who found him unresponsive,” he said.
Smiley also mentioned that Brandon had a history of drug use. “He was struggling with that,” Smiley said. “His mother and I made several attempts to try to send him to get the help that he needed — send him to rehab. We thought that he as doing better — he had just joined the church and he had just gotten baptized again probably a month before he passed away.”
“He used, and it killed him,” Smiley said