A heroic last act, memorizing lines at a glance and taking on a diva. Here are the things we learned about Naya Rivera after the actress's tragic death.
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00:00A heroic last act, memorizing lines at a glance and taking on a diva, here are the things
00:06we learned about Naya Rivera after the actress' tragic death.
00:10Following the tragic discovery of Naya Rivera's body in California's Lake Piru, authorities
00:14revealed that the Glee star had been hugely courageous in her final moments.
00:19In fact, if it wasn't for the actor's bravery, her four-year-old son would also have lost
00:23his life.
00:24At a press conference, Bill Ayub, the Ventura County Sheriff, disclosed what was believed
00:29to have happened during that fateful day.
00:31While getting into difficulties in the water while swimming together, Rivera managed to
00:35lift her only child, Josie, onto the pontoon boat she'd rented that afternoon, but according
00:40to the youngster, she was unable to pull herself in.
00:42He told investigators that he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of
00:47the water."
00:48Ayub went on to theorize exactly how the pair got into such trouble, saying that currents
00:53that usually only appear in the afternoon on the lake caused the boat to drift away
00:57from them while they were swimming, and that the young mother used all her strength to
01:00save her son.
01:02A year after the drowning of Naya Rivera, her dad George Rivera revealed that she'd
01:06FaceTimed him just moments before the tragedy occurred.
01:09The grieving father told People that he'd actually warned the Glee star not to go out
01:13swimming in Lake Piru after learning of her intentions, explaining,
01:17Unfortunately, their conversation cut out around the three-minute mark, and Naya decided
01:31not to take the advice.
01:33A heartbroken George added that he's still trying to come to terms with what had happened,
01:37saying,
01:48In 2020, Naya Rivera's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ventura
01:54County on behalf of their son Josie following the tragic drowning of the Glee actor in Lake
01:59Piru.
02:00The actor alleged that its Parks and Recreation Department had been negligent in its lack
02:04of warning to visitors about the dangers of its waters.
02:07Furthermore, the suit also accused the county of causing Josie emotional distress and failing
02:12to provide the necessary safety equipment.
02:15The attorney representing the Rivera family later revealed that both parties had agreed
02:19to a global settlement, saying in a statement,
02:21Through this settlement, Josie will receive just compensation for having to endure the
02:25drowning of his beloved mother at Lake Piru.
02:28Though the tragic loss of Josie's mother can never truly be overcome, we are very pleased
02:33that the monetary settlement will significantly assist Josie with his life beyond this tragedy.
02:38Naya Rivera had always been frank about her own battles with eating disorders, revealing
02:42in her memoir Sorry Not Sorry that she'd suffered from anorexia as a teen.
02:47In 2022, Heather Morris revealed that she was once directly challenged by her Glee co-star
02:52over worries that she was developing an eating disorder too.
02:56The actor, who played ditzy cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce, told the Glee-themed podcast And
03:01That's What You Really Missed that the confrontation occurred as a result of her refusing to eat
03:06food in front of her castmates, saying,
03:09I had developed an eating disorder.
03:10I stopped getting my period.
03:12I was so in my head about food and what it was doing for me.
03:16She was approaching me about my eating disorder because I know she herself had eating disorders.
03:20So she, of course, was the first to speak up about it.
03:23Morris told Rivera that she didn't have a problem and the subject never came up again,
03:27but she remains grateful for having a friend looking out for her, saying,
03:31That's who she was.
03:33She was just always ready to talk about it.
03:35We're all like that now.
03:37It just takes that time and place in your life where you realize life's too short.
03:41She was so powerful and so strong and such an inspiration to everybody who knew her and
03:47everybody who didn't know her personally.
03:49If you need help with an eating disorder or know someone who is, help is available.
03:54Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's live helpline at
03:591-800-931-2237.
04:02You can also receive 24-7 crisis support via text.
04:07Naya Rivera might not have been the most prepared cast member of Ryan Murphy's musical drama
04:13Glee when it came to script reading, but according to co-stars Jenna Oshkowitz and Kevin McHale,
04:19she still put the rest of the New Directions gang to shame when it came to script reciting.
04:23While reminiscing about Rivera on And That's What You Missed, the actors admitted that
04:26they'd often be panicking over just two lines that they'd rehearsed countless times before.
04:31Rivera, however, would just rock up to the set, take a quick look at her dialogue, and
04:35grill it off word-for-word, with Oshkowitz remarking,
04:38"...it was the wildest thing to actually witness."
04:41McHale joked that he had mixed feelings about Rivera's photographic memory, saying,
04:45"...it was really infuriating and also incredible to watch.
04:49It was a gift that we got to be around every single day."
04:52The same year that he split from Naya Rivera, Big Sean released a track that many interpreted
04:57as an unflattering message to the Glee star.
05:00But following the actor's tragic death, her former lover was keen to point out that the
05:04song I Don't F**k With You wasn't the diss that everybody believed it to be.
05:08Big Sean told Vulture that the track actually had Rivera's seal of approval, saying,
05:13"...I truly made the song and played it for her.
05:15She knew about it, and she liked it.
05:17We had a breakup that was very public, and we were young and we forgave each other and
05:21moved on from that."
05:22Although the hitmaker insists that the song's message wasn't anti-Rivera, he still expresses
05:27regret at having recorded it, saying,
05:30"...if I would've known something this tragic would've happened, I would've never made the
05:33song."
05:34Big Sean also revealed that five years on, he's still struggling to process Rivera's
05:39death, as he wrote on Instagram,
05:47As well as wowing her Glee castmates with her ability to recite pages of dialogue at
05:52a moment's notice, Naya Rivera was also the star everyone called upon when they needed
05:56some cheering up.
05:58Kathy Morrison was just one of many who spoke fondly of his late co-star's zest for life
06:02in the wake of her tragic death, saying in an interview with ET,
06:06"...Naya was a huge, bright light.
06:09She was always the one who was just so witty and just, like, always joking.
06:13On that show, it was difficult.
06:15We pulled long, long hours, like 16- to 18-hour days, and we needed that, that team morale,
06:21and she was always there to give us a good laugh."
06:24Morrison, who worked alongside Rivera for six seasons of the show, admitted he was still
06:28trying to come to terms with the fact he'd no longer hear her laughing again, reflecting,
06:33"...It's crazy saying was.
06:35But she was a special person, and my heart just goes out to that family who was grieving."
06:40As two of William McKinley High's most popular cheerleaders, Naya Rivera and Diana Agron's
06:45characters were initially kept apart from the geekier characters in Glee.
06:50As a result, they forged a friendship that remained strong until the former's tragic
06:53death in 2020.
06:55During an appearance on the podcast Alice in Interviews, Agron recalled how she and
06:59Rivera quickly became BFFs, saying,
07:02"...We had our very brief moments in the pilot, and everybody else was very involved in the
07:06singing, dancing, and all the rehearsals.
07:09So she was my point person, and we kind of instilled each other with confidence in those
07:13moments."
07:14Agron went on to tell host Alison Kugel how in awe she was of her fellow pom-pom shaker,
07:19saying,
07:20"...She was just very unique and special in the way she just carried herself with such
07:24confidence and certainty.
07:25If she believed in something, or in you as a person, she would always uplift those ideas.
07:30She was very, very strong in a way that I think I have adapted to moments in my own
07:34life that have been quite difficult."
07:36Josie Rivera went through an unspeakable tragedy at the age of only four, but judging by the
07:41various updates posted by his father Ryan Dorsey in the years since, it appears as though
07:46the youngster is still thriving.
07:48In a heartfelt Instagram tribute uploaded a year after Naya's death, Ryan wrote,
07:52"...He's such a resilient, strong kid.
07:55He misses you, but knows he'll see you again.
07:57And the invisible string is something that's helped us out during this ever-evolving transition
08:01of your time with us on Earth.
08:03That was unfairly and for reasons we'll never understand cut short."
08:06The actor has also kept his followers updated on several other milestones in Josie's life,
08:11including his kindergarten graduation and seventh birthday, something the boy celebrated
08:15by throwing the first pitch at a baseball game.
08:18Leigh Michelle suffered a major backlash in 2020 when several Glee cast members called
08:22her out for acting like a diva on set.
08:24The actor was accused of a number of microaggressions by the likes of Samantha Marie Ware and Des
08:29Biersnell.
08:30But while speaking on the podcast Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino, Heather Morris
08:35revealed that Naya Rivera was the only person who'd spoken out against Michelle for her
08:39behavior at the time.
08:40"'Cause I just try to be really, really honest with people when I think that they suck."
08:48Morris confirmed that the stories circulating about Michelle were indeed true, and that
08:52she wished she had backed Rivera up, saying,
08:55"'It was something that was very hush-hush on set.
08:58We absolutely could have stepped up and gone to the Fox execs and said how we felt about
09:02the situation, and nobody really did.
09:04And so now we are living in a culture where it's acceptable to go do things like that,
09:08whereas I think many people were very scared.'"
09:11You might not know that long before dating rapper Big Sean and marrying fellow actor
09:15Ryan Dorsey, Naya Rivera went out with another famous face.
09:19Yes, the Glee star had a childhood romance with Smart Guy lead Taj Mowry after first
09:23meeting him as a young kid on an advertising campaign.
09:27Following Rivera's death, Mowry took to Instagram to share his grief about the individual he
09:31shared his first kiss with, writing,
09:34"'No woman has ever measured up what you gave me or how you made me feel.
09:38I've never liked to admit it, but I have never stopped loving you.
09:41A part of me always wished for the day where God would bring us back together, to be what
09:45we dreamt we could have been.'"
09:47Mowry also revealed to E! News that their on-and-off relationship permanently changed
09:51to off just before Rivera got her star-making role as cheerleader Santino Lopez, saying,
09:57"'I think our last sort of breakup was in my early 20s.
10:00It was one of those moments where you keep seeing your ex on billboards and you're like,
10:04oh my gosh, I can't escape.'"
10:06Unlike other stars on Glee, Naya Rivera wasn't the kind of actor who made life on set miserable
10:11for others.
10:12It was never a moment where I was not barely laughing, being around that woman, so clever,
10:17so funny."
10:18In one of the most glowing Instagram tributes paid to Rivera in the wake of her tragic death,
10:23Amber Riley revealed how there is a refreshing lack of ego around the Californian, writing,
10:28"'There was never competition or shade or intimidation with us, just pure adoration
10:33and mutual respect.
10:34You deserved better.
10:36You were so much more than just this show.
10:38Your talent outshined us all so many times.'"
10:41Riley also spoke about how Rivera was as intelligent as she was gifted, and concluded her eulogy
10:46with the following words,
10:47"'I've cried until my tear ducts have dried out.
10:51Now it's time to celebrate the fact that us mere humans got to experience walking through
10:54life with an Earth angel.
10:56Rest well.
10:57I pray you found the peace we were all searching for.'"