Following the death of her son Ian Alexander Jr., Vivica A. Fox broke down on Monday night’s episode of Cocktails With Queens as she recounted a message from her close friend Regina King.
King, according to Fox, is surrounded by love.
She told her co-hosts Claudia Jordan, Lisa Raye, and Syleena Johnson that she was with the bereaved actress to console her and that King was surviving the experience.
“She’s okay. I was able to hug her. I got a text saying that Regina wants to see you, and I made a U-turn and immediately headed there. I didn’t think about where am I going, what am I doing, I just had to go see my sister,” Fox said on Cocktails With Queens.
Fox sought counsel from close friends on what to say to King on the way to his home, not wanting to say anything inappropriate in her grief.
“She’s so strong. More than anything else, I’m glad I got to hug her, glad I got to look in her eyes; this has been absolutely one of the longest weekends I’ve ever had in my life. It’s like I can’t stop crying. But she said to tell everybody that she’s gotten your texts, the outpouring of love for her, her family and her son, she appreciates it,” Fox said.
She added that King “is surrounded by so much love y’all, that was the beautiful thing that when I got there, our community is right there for her.”
The actress continued by saying that the situation is harsh and that the pandemic has led everyone to live in a dark place. She urged viewers to pay attention to their loved ones’ behavioral cues and to check in with them if somebody in their circle reaches out to them.
“If y’all see someone in distress, check on them. I’ve never thought about suicide in our community, how many people are deciding to take their own lives because they don’t want to be here,” she continued.
The actress also stated that the Black community must continue to raise mental health awareness.
Alexander committed suicide six days after his mother’s 51st birthday on Jan. 21.
Alexander, who went by the stage name Desduné, was just 26 days old when he died. He had earlier posted on Instagram about his planned event, inviting his supporters to “say you supported desduné before the blowup” by attending his presentation of rising artists in Los Angeles.
With two praising hands, King just said, “Swag.”
Alexander, on the other hand, revealed that he was going through an internal conflict and that Instagram was not a good environment for him.
“I don’t think instagram is healthy for me,” he wrote. “You know that episode of SpongeBob where they go inside his brain and it’s a bunch of mini spongebobs just losing their s**t….. yea that one really hits home.”
