Naya Rivera‘s ex-husband Ryan Dorsey shared their son’s heartbreaking reaction to watching his late mother onscreen.
The actor, 41, said their nine-year-old son Josey ‘welled up’ while watching footage of Naya in the 2011 musical documentary Glee: The 3D Concert Movie.
‘He sat there and he watched the whole movie, and you could see his eyes welling up a little bit,’ Ryan told People in an interview published on Monday.
He added, ‘But he’s a strong boy, and he has a lot of content and episodes. His mom will live forever. I think that’s a silver lining of this terrible situation.’
Rivera’s life was tragically cut short in July 2020 when she drowned in Lake Piru, in Ventura County, California. She was 33-years-old at the time.
Josey — who feels guilty he wasn’t able to save his mom — was born during her marriage to Ryan, which lasted from 2014 until 2018.
Naya Rivera’s ex-husband Ryan Dorsey, 41, shared their son Josey’s, nine, heartbreaking reaction to watching his late mother onscreen; Ryan seen with Josey in an Instagram photo
The actor said Josey ‘welled up’ while watching footage of Naya in the 2011 musical documentary Glee: The 3D Concert Movie; she is seen in a promotional photo fro Glee
Ryan also shared that Josey got emotional while looking at photos of his mom. ‘We made this book of memories for Josey that sits by his bed, and during the holidays he was crying looking at it.’
‘You can only give him a hug and tell him, “I know, life is not fair. Bad things happen and there’s no reason for it, and you just have to do your best to be a good person.” It’s hard trying to explain things that you can’t really make sense of no matter what age you are,’ he said.
Ryan admitted he also has trouble watching Rivera on TV, stating that ‘pictures are hard enough. I can’t just sit there and watch her sing.’
Reminders of Rivera evoke bittersweet emotions for Dorsey.
‘Sometimes they’re happy reminders but a lot of times, even if it’s happy, the reality is it’s a lot of what could’ve been, what should’ve been. A lot of second-guessing everything and wondering how things might’ve played out if the tiniest decision we make really changes the course of events of life.’
The actor says he tries to ‘do good’ by Rivera by throwing Josey the type of incredible birthday parties she would have been proud of.
‘I hope to make her proud by throwing parties like she used to throw for him as he gets older,’ he said.
Dorsey currently lives with Josey in West Virginia, but he often travels back to Los Angeles to visit Rivera’s family. ‘He’s really close to both sides of his family, and we make sure of that.’
Last month Ryan told People that Josey – who was only four at the time of his mother’s death – feels guilty over not being able to rescue her after their unanchored pontoon boat went adrift in Lake Piru as she exhausted herself getting him back onboard.
‘He sat there and he watched the whole movie, and you could see his eyes welling up a little bit,’ Ryan told People in an interview published on Monday; Naya seen with her son in 2019
‘But he’s a strong boy, and he has a lot of content and episodes. His mom will live forever. I think that’s a silver lining of this terrible situation,’ he added
Ryan also shared that Josey got emotional while looking at photos of his mom. ‘We made this book of memories for Josey that sits by his bed, and during the holidays he was crying looking at it’
Ryan admitted he also has trouble watching Rivera on TV, stating that ‘pictures are hard enough. I can’t just sit there and watch her sing’; they are seen in 2015
‘He said that the last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore. It just rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments,’ Ryan recalled.
‘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. 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.’
26 other people have reportedly drowned in the 130ft-deep man-made reservoir known locally for unpredictable currents and bad whirlpools.
In 2022, Ventura County reached a confidential settlement with Dorsey in his wrongful death lawsuit due to the rented boat ‘not complying with safety standards.’
The On Call guest star remembered collapsing at Ralph’s grocery store in Big Bear upon hearing Rivera was missing and he drove 100MPH the 145 miles to Lake Piru to help with the five-day search effort for her remains.
‘It was the worst five days of my life,’ Ryan recalled. ‘There was a fear, what if we don’t find her? It was just awful.’
Rivera played Santana Lopez for all six seasons of Glee, from 2009 until 2015.
Ryan’s three-year marriage to the Glee alum ended in divorce in 2018 after he had dropped his misdemeanor domestic battery charge against her.
Rivera’s life was tragically cut short in July 2020 when she drowned in Lake Piru, in Ventura County, California . She was 33-years-old at the time (CCTV footage from July 8, 2020)
Last month Ryan told People that Josey – who was only four at the time of his mother’s death – feels guilty over not being able to rescue her, after their unanchored pontoon boat went adrift in Lake Piru as she exhausted herself getting him back onboard (pictured in January)
Josey was born during Rivera’s marriage to Ryan, which lasted from 2014 until 2018; they are seen in 2014
Rivera played Santana Lopez for all six seasons of Glee (2009-2015); pictured with co-star Lea Michele
Dorsey plans on writing more about that ‘monumental disaster’ in his upcoming memoir.
The on/off couple – who originally met in 2010 – famously wed in Cabo San Lucas before 12 guests on July 19, 2014 – the same exact day Naya was originally scheduled to marry her ex-fiancé Big Sean before their split.
For the past two years, Ryan has been living a quieter life in his native West Virigina where little Josey has been involved in sports, violin lessons, and acted in two plays at the Children’s Theatre of Charleston.
Dorsey has been in LA filming a ‘very cool’ Apple TV+ show, but first, he will next reprise his role as the mysterious Frank Whales in an episode of the CBS hit Tracker – titled ‘The Disciple.’
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