When Tragedy Hits Home: Celebs Who Lost A Sibling - Page 5

Tragedy can and will strike anyone regardless of fame or fortune. These celebrities can attest to that because their lives were forever changed after suffering the loss of a sibling.
https://instagram.com/p/z3pw4zgNm4/

Kamal “Chance” Givens

We were first introduced to Ahmad “Chance” Givens and his brother Kamal “Real” Givens when they went looking for love on the reality show “I Love New York.” The brothers landed their own show and continued on their quest to find “the one” on reality television. In 2013, Real was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. He underwent treatment and the deadly disease was in remission but last year the cancer returned and he lost the battle several weeks ago. Chance posted a tribute to his brother online saying, “I’ll see you one day soon we shall dance again in God’s kingdom forever and ever bro words can’t describe my pain world pray for me!”

Chelsea Handler

Chelsea Handler suffered a tragic loss when she was younger and she remained affected by it years later. The former E! talk show host’s 27-year-old brother Chet died during a hiking trip after falling over a cliff. Handler opened up about his death and admitted she withdrew emotionally. “My family wanted to talk to me about it but I was just, like, cut off ‘cause I didn’t want to cry in front of anyone,” Handler said in an interview with Rosie O’Donnell. “That’s very unhealthy. It took a long time to, you know, kind of get over.”

Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah’s rap career was really starting to take off when her suffered a personal loss. Back in 1992, the Newark native’s world was rocked when her older brother Lancelot was killed while riding his motorcycle. The bike had been a gift from his famous sister. Decades after his death the singer/rapper/actress revealed that she still struggles with her grief. “It (a close family death) takes parts of you away,” she said in an interview. “So when you have to rebuild parts of yourself, you have to figure out how to live without a limb. That’s how I feel about losing my brother and having to refigure out life. But life goes on because I’m still breathing. I’m still alive.”

Spike Lee

For Spike Lee, 2013 ended in tragedy. His older brother Christopher Lee passed away on December 30th. The famed filmmaker shared the news with his followers on Instagram with a photo of his brother and the caption: “Mr. Christopher Lee R.I.P December 23,1958-December 30,2013. Chris Is My Brother Born Right After Me,” he wrote. “Not A Good Way To Start The New Year. May God Bless His Soul.” Although there was no cause of death reported, he was 55 years old.

Jennifer Hudson

Tragedy struck Jennifer Hudson’s family in the worst way. Her mother, brother and nephew were all murdered at the hands of her sister’s estranged husband. In October 2008, mom Darnell Donnerson and her 27-year-old son Jason were shot and killed inside of their Chicago home. An AMBER Alert was issued for her seven-year-old nephew but he was found three days later in the same manner as his grandmother and uncle. Their killer, William Balfour, was sentenced to life in prison and the Hudson family founded The Hudson-King Foundation for Families of Slain Victims in honor of the three family members that they lost.

Niecy Nash

Nineteen years after Niecy Nash’s brother was murdered at the hands of a 16-year-old, the killer struck again. The comedian and actress had to relive the pain when it was reported that his convicted killer stabbed his wife to death. “No family should have to endure the loss of a loved one at the hands of a previously convicted violent criminal,” said “The Soul Man” actress. ”I am deeply saddened to hear that the man who murdered my brother, Michael Ensley, has been charged with murder again. I grieve for every family who has been victimized by this heinous individual. My prayers and love go out to the family of Demetra Doyle Heard during this trying time.”

Nelly

Nelly jumped on the music scene in 2000 with “Country Grammar” and he quickly rose to stardom. The St. Louis rapper used his platform to cast a national spotlight on an issue that had affected him personally. His sister Jackie Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. Nelly used his celebrity status to educate minority communities on the importance of bone marrow transplants by starting the non-profit organization 4Sho4Kids Foundation. His sister Jackie lost her fight on March 24, 2005.

Amar’e Stoudemire

When he came to the New York Knicks, Amar’e Stoudemire wanted to bring a championship to the Big Apple but during the second half of the 2012 season, he was called home for a very important reason. The power forward had lost his older brother in a terrible accident. Thirty-five-year-old Hazell Stoudemire was killed instantly when his SUV crashed into the back of an oil tanker. The older Stoudemire was also a standout star on his high school basketball team but he chose a different path from Amar’e and ended up in prison at the age of 22.

Venus and Serena Williams

Venus and Serena Williams’ father molded and trained them to be tennis stars from a very young age in hopes that their talents would take them away from the rough streets of Compton. They went on to dominate the courts but their older sister lost her life to gun violence in 2003. 31-year-old Yetunde Price, a registered nurse and personal assistant to her famous racquet-wielding sisters, was sitting in an SUV in Compton when shots rang out Price, who was shot multiple times, was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.

Sofia Vergara

Before she was a well-known actress on the Emmy-winning show “Modern Family” here in the U.S., Sofia Vergara enjoyed a lot of success as the host of two television shows in Columbia. The actress came from a well-to-do family and in her home country, they lived with the fear of being kidnapped and ransomed for money. That fear became a reality when her 27-year-old brother Rafael was kidnapped and murdered on the streets of Bogota in 1998. “In Colombia any person who has money is a target for kidnapping,” Vergara said of her wealthy family. “It’s a reality.”

Mark Wahlberg

September 3, 2003 will always be an unforgettable day for Mark Wahberg. The “Pain and Gain” actor welcomed his firstborn child on that day but as happy as he was, that feeling was immediately replaced with sadness with the sudden passing of his sister. Fourty-three-year-old Deborah Donnelly-Wahlberg was admitted into the hospital with kidney stones when she suffered a fatal heart attack. A decade later, Deborah was remembered by her family in the premiere episode of “Wahlburgers,” the reality show centered around the burger bar owned by brother Mark, Donnie and Paul.

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert was raised in a small, rural town in South Carolina but after a terrible family loss, they relocated to Connecticut. When Colbert was 10 years old, his father and 15-year-old and 18-year-old brothers were killed when Eastern Airlines Flight 212 crashed into a cornfield in North Carolina. After their deaths, the family moved to a more urban town and Colbert confessed he struggled to make friends. He has no problems making friends now and is set to take over hosting duties at the “Late Show” when David Letterman retires later this year.

Nick Carter

Drug addiction can tear a family apart and unfortunately for Nick Carter, he knows this firsthand. His younger sister Leslie Carter died in early 2012 after a drug overdose and the former Backstreet Boy opened up about the loss on Dr. Phil. He ended up skipping his sister’s funeral because his family partly held him responsible for Leslie’s death. “I felt it was unfair, especially with all the things I have done, and continue to do for them,” Carter said and vowed to use her death as a wake up call.

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts lost her half-sister Nancy Motes early last year. Her death was initially reported as an accident but it was then officially ruled as a suicide. Thirty-seven-year-old Motes took her own life after ingesting multiple drugs and then climbing into the tub. The Los Angeles County Coroner reported that her intoxication caused her to drown. Motes left a lengthy suicide note and touched on her troubled relationship with her very famous sister.