The late Naya Rivera’s ex Ryan Dorsey is explaining why her sister has moved in with him. After receiving death threats about it, he says his son pleaded for his aunt to live with them after missing his mom.
Actor Ryan Dorsey made a long explanation video for fans after word got out that his late ex-wife Naya Rivera‘s sister Nickayla was now living with him. The Glee star tragically drowned in July while on a boating trip on SoCal’s Lake Piru with the former couple’s now five-year-old son Josey Hollis Dorsey. That left the confused little boy without a mother after he watched her go underneath the water while yelling for help. As a result, Josey wanted his aunt to come live with him and his dad, since he is still missing his mother so much and Nickayla is the closest thing he has to a mom now.
Ryan titled the 12 minute Sept. 29 Instagram video “Its not always black and white.” In it, he explained that, “I can’t believe this is real life and I am about to address any of this nonsense.” He revealed how he hadn’t been on social media since mid-July and that, “It’s been brought to my attention that there’s a lot of people who have a lot to say and opinions on a family’s tragic situation. There’s people making judgements, making assumptions, they’re sending terrible messages wishing death upon strangers who they truly know next to zero about.”
He then went on to discuss how Josey is handling the absence of his beloved mom and wanted Nickayla — who he calls “Titi” — to live with them. “And then he asks me if Titi can live with us. ‘I want Titi to live with us forever,’ because she’s now the closest thing that he has to a mom, because you’re gonna need all the help you can get as a single parent, trying to build your career and navigate this disaster with your child and you deal with it every hour of every day for 80-plus days now,” Ryan explained.
“I wouldn’t want any of you to ever have to go through any of that and to have to let him get what he wants, what he asks for and what he needs right now, which is his family. Even if you know it’s temporary and it’s not forever. It’s a temporary situation and, after all that he’s had to go through, how could you deny him that, because of what? Because of what some strangers might think or say or spew some hatred based on some ill-advised, illogical, misinformed tabloid? It’s sad. It really is,” he continued.
“But I hope you would be lucky enough, I hope you would be lucky as me to have family on both sides who support and who’ve helped out tremendously and to have a young woman who is…his Titi who’s willing to put her life on hold and sacrifice things; uproot her situation for the betterment of your child so when you put your child to bed you don’t always have to be alone with your thoughts and you don’t have to be sad every day and night, wondering when does it get better. At least you have someone there with you to talk to or just sit in silence and be sad with. You don’t have to deal with it completely alone,” Ryan confessed while in tears in the heartbreaking video.
Ryan has had to have such painful talks with Josey about why his mom is no longer with him. The two went out on a boat ride on July 9, 2020 and their unanchored pontoon vessel began to drift in Lake Piru. Naya was able to get Josey safely back aboard the craft using all of her energy, but didn’t have enough left to save herself. Little Josey was the last person to see Naya alive as she yelled for help before drowning. Despite exhaustive search and recovery efforts, her body wasn’t recovered from the lake until July 13.
“I hope none of you ever have to go through any of this…” Ryan wept. “And I have to tell him, ‘Oh she’s an angel now. She’s with God. She’s in heaven.’ And he says, ‘Well I want to go there. How do I get there?’ I wouldn’t wish there upon any of your ears to have to hear that, hear those words come out of the sweetest soul you know. And then going to a funeral, trying to explain that to an innocent child of what a funeral is way before they should ever have to think about or deal with any of that. And when you get through that and then he asks me if Titi can live with us…” he explained. How could Ryan say no to Josey’s request for his aunt coming to live with him after all that the precious little boy has been through? Hopefully this will cause the haters to stop with the death threats and let this heartbroken family heal after losing Naya.