Naya Rivera’s ex reveals son believed he could’ve saved her during drowning death in 2020
Ryan Dorsey opens up about how his son, Josey, is grappling with Rivera's passing nearly five years later.
Nearly five years after actress Naya Rivera died unexpectedly at the age of 33 in 2020, her ex, Ryan Dorsey, is speaking out for the first time.
In his first interview since her death, the 41-year-old actor let People Magazine in on how he’s been managing and how Rivera’s death — from a freak drowning incident in a lake — impacted the son they share, Josey. Dorsey noted how his son, who was 4 years old when he watched his mother drown, feels guilty in the aftermath.
“Something he’s said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it,” Dorsey said. “I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.’ That obviously still sticks out in his head because he feels like he could have saved her. I think she just got caught up in a brush — that or a weird undercurrent from the dam. It was just a freak occurrence.”
Rivera died on July 8, 2020, during an accident on a boating trip with her son in Lake Piru, California. According to Josey, after the mother-son duo jumped in the water to go swimming, Rivera had difficulty getting back on the boat before she disappeared under the water. The boat she rented for the afternoon apparently wasn’t properly equipped with safety devices like life vests or a life raft.
“He said that the last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore,” Dorsey continued. “It just rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments.”
In 2022, Dorsey reached a settlement in a wrongful death suit about the accident against Ventura, California, citing the rental company’s negligence in not including safety devices among its reasons. He filed the suit on behalf of their son.
“I probably would have jumped in, and I like to think I would’ve saved the day,” he told People. “But on the other hand, I think maybe something bad could have happened to both of us. I don’t know.”
At the time of her death, Rivera was at the height of her career. She rose from her days as a child actor in the early aughts, appearing on shows like “Bernie Mac,” “Girlfriends,” “Smart Guy,” and more, to megastardom at the height of the hit show “Glee,” where she memorably played the sassy cheerleader Santana, a fan favorite.
Dorsey noted how much Josey, whom he has been raising on his own back in his native West Virginia, resembles his mom. There’s also the fact that Dorsey’s son with Rivera, now 9, closely resembles his mom—and he has her personality to match.
“He’s definitely his mama’s son because when he doesn’t get the answer he wants, he keeps talking,” Dorsey said. “He likes to talk, and that’s mama for sure.”
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