We all know that Naya Rivera’s career has spanned over more than 20 years as she has played numerous amount of roles. However, if there is one role that catapulted her into stardom, it was her role as Santana on the Fox hit series “Glee.” On Tuesday, the show’s creators, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, released a statement via 20th Century Fox TV as they remembered Naya and all of her amazing work.
In the statement, they said, “We are heartbroken over the loss of our friend Naya Rivera. Naya wasn’t a series regular when we cast her on Glee. She didn’t have more than a few lines in the pilot. But it didn’t take more than an episode or two for us to realize that we had lucked into finding one of the most talented, special stars we would ever have the pleasure of working with.”
They continued to talk about Naya’s multiple talents, and how important her role as Santana was to television. The statement continued, “Naya is responsible for numerous iconic Glee musical performances, but her greatest Glee legacy is probably the humor and humanity that she brought to Santana’s relationship with her best friend and eventual girlfriend/wife Brittany. It was one of the first times an openly lesbian, high school relationship was seen on network television and Naya understood what ‘Brittana’ meant to the many young women who were seeing themselves represented on television for the first time.”
As we previously reported, last week, Naya was reported missing after her son was found alone in a boat on Lake Piru. Following days of an extensive search, Naya’s body was recovered from the lake on Monday and she was officially announced deceased.
On Tuesday, the Ventura Medical Examiners Officer released a statement and announced Naya’s official cause of death, which was due to her drowning.
We continue to send our deepest condolences to Naya Rivera’s family during this difficult time.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94