MediaTakeOut ran a story today with the salacious headline, “Naya Rivera’s Sister Getting REAL CLOSE W/ Her Husband! (Shock Pics)” which parroted reporting from Daily Mail about Nickayla moving in with Dorsey, but the often debunked MTO added its own suggestive tone. The site describes Nickayla and Dorsey’s relationship as “intimate” and after explaining that Nickayla had moved in, adds, with heavy implications,
Yes – her sister and her husband.
The outlet goes on to claim that Dorsey and Nickayla look like a couple in the paparazzi photos provided by Daily Mail. In the photos, the two are doing nothing more than walking around, shopping, and hopping in and out of moving trucks.
One extremely blurry, grainy photo is used as evidence of the two holding hands, though the quality of the picture makes it impossible to see if they are or not. Regardless, the outlet notes that Dorsey’s son, Josey, is not in any of the photos.
In the two days since the initial article was published, incredibly cruel comments have begun springing up on both Ryan Dorsey and Nickayla Rivera’s Instagram posts. Sadly, Nickayla seems to be receiving the meanest comments. One comment read,
You should be ashamed of yourself now everyone thinking you killed her. There’s so many guys in the world and you go for your sisters ex a few months after she died this looks super suspicious
Another simply said, “You killed your sister for this guy!!” Dorsey addressed both the rumors and the nasty comments that followed in a lengthy Instagram video posted last night.
“This is 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…especially to 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.”
Dorsey spoke at length about his son, who is still dealing with the effects of losing his mother at only 5-years-old, and detailed the sad conversations about death the two of them had had to have over the last few months. Then he says that Nickayla had moved in, at Josey’s request.
“And then he asks if TiTi [Nickayla] can live with us. ‘I want TiTi to live with us forever.’ Because she’s now the closest thing he has to a mom. Because you’re gonna need all the help you can get as a single parent. Trying to build a career and navigate this disaster with your child.”
Dorsey goes on to say that Nickayla “put her life on hold” and was willing to “uproot her situation for the betterment of [my] child.” Dorsey lashed out at those who judged him for the situation, saying, “After all he’s had to go through, how could you deny him that? And because what? Because what some strangers might think or say? Or spew some hatred based on some ill-advised, illogical misinformed tabloid? It’s sad. It really is.”
In conclusion, Dorsey said, “[Expletive] man, I wish I was worried about a relationship right now,” rather than dealing with his current circumstances. He then urged people to be kind and think twice before sending mean comments and “death threats” to people. But even after hearing Dorsey’s heartfelt words, some commenters still felt the need to chime in with their unsolicited opinions, though fewer people threw around outright accusations of murder.
Nah. Don’t try to mask your affair with her sister with your son’s grief. She has no reason to live there. Take this time to raise Josey by yourself…spend time with him…make sure he remembers his MOTHER…not his aunt who shacked up with you. #sorrynotsorry
It’s honestly beyond irresponsible that these outlets, and other celebrity gossip sites like them, ran with these images and narratives before the complete picture came out. Clearly, MTO regretted their actions, since the headline currently on their site is not the one it originally ran.
The original headline was even more accusatory: “Naya Rivera’s Sister Allegedly Sleeping W/ Her Husband (Shock Pics),” but it was changed soon after the story was first published. The original title can still be seen in the url to the story.
There are now people accusing Naya Rivera’s sister of having something to do with her death. These bizarre conspiracy theories can only bring around more harm for a family that’s already gone through so much tragedy. This is beyond intrusive, and MTO and the other outlets that carried this story ought to be ashamed of themselves.