On Friday night (July 17), Big Sean paid homage to Naya Rivera in a moving post to Instagram.
For his tribute, the rapper shared two photos of the late actress and spoke about her impact. “Rest In Peace Naya, God Bless your Soul!” he began. “Thank you for blessing us all with your talent and presence. You are a hero! Not just because of how you saved your son, also because of the barriers you knocked down for so many people to make them feel confident in themselves and to stand tall and be proud when they couldn’t achieve that on their own.”
He continued, “I appreciate and cherish everything that ever happened between us for making me wiser and a better person. I’m still grieving and in shock, I can’t believe this is real. I’m praying for you and your family and I know you’re watching over them and protecting them. Rest In Peace Naya 💙🙏🏾.”
Earlier this month, devastating news broke that Rivera’s body was found at Lake Piru. Investigators said that the 33-year-old went for a swim while boating with her 4-year-old son and could have been overpowered by a current. “There are a lot of currents on the lake that appear particularly in the afternoon,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub shared in a press conference that took place on July 13. “The idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting, it was unanchored, and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself.”
Like Big Sean, several others have shared touching tributes on social media. Actress Tia Mowry-Hardict said it was a privilege watching Rivera blossom into her own over the years. “I knew as early as 9 years old you were going to grace us with so much talent and so much beauty,” the “Sister, Sister” actress wrote.
Take a look at Big Sean’s post below.