Big Sean has spoken out on the death of his ex-fiancée Naya Rivera.

The Glee actress’s body was found in Lake Piru on 13 July, four days after she went missing while boating with her four-year-old son Josey. The 33-year-old’s death was ruled an accidental drowning, and authorities said that Naya mustered up the energy to get her son back into the boat, saving his life.

Big Sean, 32, had stayed quiet following the tragedy, bar liking posts prior to Naya being found praying for her safe return, but the rapper – real name Sean Anderson – has broken his silence, saying he is ‘still grieving and in shock’.

The Mercy rapper wrote: ‘Rest In Peace Naya, God Bless your Soul! 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.

Read Also: Naya Rivera Died Of Accidental Drowning-Medical Examiner
‘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 your watching over them and protecting them. Rest In Peace Naya.’
The star shared a black and white picture of Naya, as well as a photo of her cuddling Josey.

Stars including Macklmore and Snoh Aalegra left heart emojis under the heartfelt post. Big Sean and Naya began dating in 2013 after Sean’s split from his high school sweetheart Ashley Marie, after the stars met over Twitter.

Naya told Access Hollywood at the time: ‘I had followed him, and he sent me a little message like, “I’m a fan”. We went to dinner and the rest is history.’

The couple collaborated on Naya’s debut single Sorry, which was released in September 2013, and a month later, they announced their engagement.

In a January 2014 interview, Rivera said of her boyfriend: ‘I think he’s going to be an amazing husband, and he’ll make a great father someday. He’s so kind to people, but he also wears the pants in our relationship, which I love. We Latinas are very independent and strong, so it’s even sweeter that I’ve found somebody who can let me out of that role for a minute.’

However, things soon soured and in April 2014, the pair broke off their engagement. Soon after the split, Naya began dating actor Ryan Dorsey, and married him on 19 July 2014 – the date she and Sean were set to tie the knot.

Big Sean – who went on to date Ariana Grande and Jhené Aiko – hit back at his ex in his September 2014 track I Don’t F*** With You, which featured lyrics including: ‘Everyday I wake up celebratin’ s***, why? ‘Cause I just dodged a bullet from a crazy b****.’

However, when Rivera – who split from Dorsey in 2017 – went missing, Sean put their past aside, as he liked numerous posts hoping for Naya’s safe return, and later for her body to be found. The showbiz world was left devastated by Rivera’s passing, with her colleagues on Glee sharing heartbreaking tributes to the actress. Naya was best known for playing the feisty cheerleader Santana Lopez on the Fox musical comedy.

Photo Credit: Getty

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