Nickayla Rivera Responded to Rumors She Moved in With Her Sister Naya Rivera’s Ex-Husband

UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 —

Ryan Dorsey, Naya Rivera's ex-husband and the father of their son Josey, also responded to rumors about the nature of his relationship with her sister, Nickayla Rivera.

"It's truly sad that this is the world that we live in where people were raised to think it's OK to spew hatred, in general, especially when they make statements about a family who are dealing with a tragedy that I hope is so unimaginable that you or anyone that is close to you ever has to go through," he said in an Instagram video.

Dorsey went on to explain that his son has (understandably) been struggling since Rivera's death and that he's relying on family for support. "You know he's so smart and you know he witnessed a nightmare right before his eyes," he said. "Then, when you're with him every day during this, with his grandpas, and his grandmas, and his aunts, and his uncles, and his whole family, and all you have is each other to lean on and to cry with, and you go through this nightmare. It's sad. The reality hits you and the grieving can start, but the sadness gets heavier because you know you're going to have to have a conversation one on one with a little boy and tell him about our new reality."

Dorsey said it was Josey's wish that Nickayla move in with them.

“[Josey] asks me if Titi can live with us. ‘I want Titi to live with us forever,' because she's now the closest thing he has to a mom. You're going to need all the help you can get as a single parent trying to build your career and navigate this disaster with your child,” Dorsey said. "And to have to let him get what he wants, what he asks for, and what he needs right now, which is his family. Even though, you know, it's temporary and it's not forever. It's a temporary situation. After all that he's had to go through, how could you deny him that? Because of what? What some strangers might think or say, or spew some hatred based on some ill-advised, ill-logical, misinformed tabloid?"

He also called claims he and Nickayla are in a relationship “absurd”—so there you go.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Nickayla Rivera, sister of the late Glee star Naya Rivera, has found herself in the news this week as rumors emerged that she's moved in with Naya's ex-husbad, Ryan Dorsey.

Naya passed away in July during a tragic accident on California's Lake Piru after renting a boat for the day with her young son, Josey, who, thankfully, survived. “We are so grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers for Naya, Josey, and our family over the past week,” the Rivera family said in a statement at the time. “While we grieve the loss of our beautiful legend, we are blessed to honor her everlasting legacy and magnetic spirit. Naya was an amazing talent, but was an even greater person, mother, daughter, and sister.”

Recently stories emerged that Nickayla and Dorsey are living together. While Nickayla didn't confirm or deny the claim, she did speak out on her Instagram Stories.

“In the darkest time of my life, the only thing that is important is my friends & family. Showing up for my nephew, even though I can't show up for myself,” she wrote. "I'm not concerned with the way things look because no one can see each agonizing moment we all endure.

“What matters most, I've learned, is to show compassion, not to judge others, & never take a moment of life for granted,” she continued. “I hope you all can do the same.”

Dorsey has not commented on the current situation, but he wrote a loving tribute to Naya Rivera not long after her death. "I have hundreds and probably thousands of snaps and videos that Josey will have forever and know his momma loved him more than life, and how much fun we had together as he was growing up,” he said. “Life is all about good times and bad times but with Josey it makes the bad a little less so because a part of you will always be with us. He’ll never forget where he came from. We miss you.”

Hopefully, Nickayla's statement will quiet some of the chatter because, really, who is anyone to judge how a family manages their grief after such a loss?

Originally Appeared on Glamour