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Josey Hollis Dorsey is best generally known as Glee star Naya Rivera and actor Ryan Dorsey‘s only child. Josey has grown so much since Naya’s tragic passing in July 2020. Given the undeniable fact that he was the last person to see Naya alive, his story has broken fans’ hearts. Now, in a 2025 interview with PEOPLE, Ryan revealed what his son told him about his final moments with Naya.
Who Is Josey Hollis Dorsey?
Josey Hollis Dorsey was born on September 17, 2015. His parents, Naya Rivera and Ryan Dorsey, had a whirlwind romance. Naya and her ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, actually surprised fans in 2014 once they tied the knot just three months after she broke off her engagement to Big Sean. And while they welcomed Josey into the world a yr after getting married, their relationship had its justifiable share of ups and downs they usually eventually split.
Naya and Ryan initially filed for divorce in 2016 before calling off the split in 2017. But after a domestic battery charge on Naya in November 2017, she refiled for divorce, they usually finalized the split in 2018. Additionally they agreed on temporary joint custody of Josey.
Josey Hollis Dorsey currently lives together with his father, Ryan, following the tragic and accidental drowning of his mother, Naya, in July 2020.
The Glee actress rented a pontoon boat for her and her son at Lake Piru — an hour north of Los Angeles — on July 8, 2020. But hours later, he was discovered within the boat alone and Naya was nowhere to be found. It took nearly every week for Naya’s body to be discovered on Monday, July 13. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said that Josey told them he and his mother had gone into the lake to swim, however the unanchored boat began drifting away and she or he only had enough strength to get him back on board. She wasn’t wearing a life jacket, and Josey reportedly told the authorities that when he looked back into the water, he saw Naya disappear under the surface.
“She mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save lots of herself,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said during a press conference on July 13, 2020. Naya used the last little bit of her strength to save lots of her son, who was 4 years old on the time. Rivera tragically drowned, and we are able to only imagine it’s been a difficult time for him ever since.
How Was Josey Hollis Dorsey’s Relationship With His Parents?
Following Naya’s death, Josey went to live together with his dad, Ryan. And because it was later reported, after Naya’s passing, the Glee actress’ sister, Nickayla Rivera, moved in with Ryan, too. They decided to boost Josey together, but after all, romance speculation ran wild.
Nonetheless, following the reveal of their latest living situation, Ryan took to Instagram to squash any romance talk. Ryan titled his 12-minute Sept. 29 Instagram video with the next: “Its not all the time black and white.” And within the clip, he said, “I can’t consider that is real life and I’m about to deal with any of this nonsense. It’s been delivered to my attention that there’s a variety of individuals who have so much to say and opinions on a family’s tragic situation. There’s people making judgements, making assumptions, they’re sending terrible messages wishing death upon strangers who they honestly know next to zero about.”
He later went on to say that Josey is the one who asked for Nickayla (his nickname for her is “Titi”) to live with them. “After which he asks me if Titi can live with us. ‘I need Titi to live with us endlessly,’ because she’s now the closest thing that he has to a mom, since you’re gonna need all of the enable you can get as a single parent, attempting to construct your profession and navigate this disaster together with your child and also you take care of it every hour of day-after-day for 80-plus days now,” Ryan explained.
“I wouldn’t want any of you to ever must undergo any of that and to must let him get what he wants, what he asks for and what he needs right away, which is his family. Even for those who comprehend it’s temporary and it’s not endlessly. It’s a brief situation and, in spite of everything that he’s needed to undergo, how could you deny him that, due to what? Due to what some strangers might think or say or spew some hatred based on some ill-advised, illogical, misinformed tabloid? It’s sad. It truly is,” he continued.
How Is Josey Hollis Dorsey Doing?
Fortunately, time has healed Josey and Ryan’s wounds just somewhat bit, but they’ll all the time miss Naya. And within the time since her passing, they’ve shared some special moments with one another.
Not only did Ryan showcase Josey’s cool latest haircut in a photograph posted on Instagram in October 2020, but Ryan also shared cute videos of little Josey dancing to Michael Jackson‘s biggest hits just before Halloween that exact same yr. Clearly, Josey seems to have inherited a few of his mother’s amazing talents. A few of Naya’s most memorable moments in Hollywood were those of her singing and dancing throughout all six seasons of Glee.
In June 2021, Ryan revealed that Josey graduated from Pre-K. They even posed for a photograph together at Josey’s graduation, and Ryan captioned the pic with the next message: “Fresh outta Pre-K boy! Next Up Kindergarten! #summertime #proudDad”. See the cute photo below.
Following Naya’s death, Ryan filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ventura County, on behalf of their son. Right now, there’s been no resolution.
In February 2025, Ryan revealed what his son’s final moments were together with his late mom in an interview with PEOPLE.
“Something he’s said time and again is that he was trying to search out a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a giant spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it,” Ryan recalled. “I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.’”
