Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy has responded to claims from Naya Rivera’s father of “broken promises” and “hollow gestures” in connection with a previously announced vow of establishing a college fund for the late actress and singer’s son Josey.
In a number of tweets on Tuesday, George Rivera suggested there’s been little to no movement on the fund.
“Everyone needs to know what Ryan Murphy really did … or didn’t do!” he said on Tuesday. “I’m about to blow up this story.” He also decried what he described as the “Hollywood elite” for treating others as “less than” while also presenting a public image that’s “as shallow as the sets on stage.”
According to George, public promises had faded “with time and excuses” since his daughter’s tragic death at the age of 33.
In a statement shared withEntertainment Tonight on Tuesday, a rep for Murphy said the fund in question is still in the works.
“Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan have committed to fund and create a college fund for her child through the Naya Rivera Estate Trust, and have been in repeated conversations with the appropriate executors of her estate,” the rep said.
Murphy also shared a slightly different version of the same statement to Twitter, later prompting further criticism from Naya’s father:
Naya Rivera, who rose to prominence as Santana Lopez on Fox’s Glee, died on July 8 of last year after drowning at Lake Piru in California. Her character on the Channing Tatum-backed Step Up series was set to return for the show’s third season on Starz. In February of this year, it was announced that Christina Milian had been tapped to replace the character after getting the blessing of Rivera’s family.
Last summer, fans gathered at Lake Piru for a vigil arranged by the Naya Army fan community.
