Rickey Smiley has been through a lot since the loss of his son, Brandon Smiley.
“That grief was pretty hard. … That was the worst time of my entire life but what don’t kill you only make you stronger,” Rickey, 56, told Us Weekly while promoting his Hulu comedy special Fool-ish. “And we have to always trust God and know that if God bring you to it, he would carry you through it. And that you know if I never felt God’s presence ever a day in my life, I felt it when I lost my son. Because I knew that he was carrying me. Because I could not walk through that wilderness alone.”
Brandon died at age 32 of fentanyl and ethanol toxicity in January 2023 after several years of battling addiction.
Rickey, who is also dad to kids D’essence, Malik, Aaryn, Allyson and Allyssa, shared that his son was also a standup comedian so it gave him a “lot of motivation.”
“And now I feel like I have my son on stage with me,” he continued. “And we are performing together. We actually did shows together. But, now when I go on stage, I feel like we are on stage together. I kinda know the kind of humor that my son really liked. And I try to give that kind of humor.”
On the one year anniversary of Brandon’s death, when he was still struggling with his grief, Rickey found out another piece of shocking news: he had two identical 4-year-old twin daughters named Allyson and Allyssa.
“When I was on the phone and I got the news, the sun, I remember exactly where I was standing,” Rickey explained to Us. “I was in Hollywood, Florida, and I remember looking at the sky, and I literally watched the sky go back to its original color. … It was not gray anymore.”
Rickey went on to share that he knew about the girls beforehand, but they were not confirmed to be his biological kids until court proceedings and a DNA test revealed his paternity.
“It was a blessing to my life,” he said. “I walked into the house February 1, 2024, for the first time as their dad. And they called me ‘daddy’ that day. I guess the mom had been prepping them and showing them pictures and they always came around and their mom explained to me they always asked, ‘Is that my daddy?’ and she would say, ‘No, you got your own.’ Like she didn’t know.”
The comedian, who has been performing for over 30 years, went on to say that finding out about his daughters “changed the entire dynamic” of his family.
“It has been nothing but joy, happiness,” he said, noting that it took him “about a month” to tell his kids and the rest of the family about the twins. “I did a memorial dinner for Brandon. … It was just R&B music and food or whatever. So I had Brandon’s picture on the easel. And so I walked on stage at the end, everybody having a good time, we would not allow anyone to leave. And I walked on stage and I announced, ‘Remember I have always said that God would give you double for your trouble. And I want to announce that I have a 4-year-old daughter by the name of Allyson.’”
Allyson came out on stage causing his family to go “absolutely crazy.”
“I said, ‘Remember God would give you what?’ They said, ‘Double for your trouble,’” Rickey shared with Us. “Then they started playing ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers and when they brought the other identical twin daughter Allyssa [out] it completely wiped my family out. … Everybody was just hugging them and taking pictures. That was a great day.”
Aside from being busy parenting his youngest daughters, Rickey has also still been focused on his comedy career, especially with the release of his Hulu special, Fool-ish, which premiered on May 30.
“I haven’t done a special in a long time,” he explained to Us, noting he was “caught up doing radio” and making room for other new talent until his friends said he should work on a special. “So I started working on some material and here we are putting it together. We made it happen.”
Rickey added that he will also be making a tribute to his late son Brandon by showing a clip of him performing at the end of his special.
“He’s gonna be on there as well,” he said.
Watch Rickey’s Fool-ish special streaming on Hulu.
