Bling Empire star Anna Shay has died unexpectedly. The 62-year-old reality TV star suffered a stroke on Monday. A Netflix representative confirmed Shay’s death to The Times.
“It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mother, grandmother, charismatic star, and our brightest ray of sunshine, has passed away at the early age of 62 from a stroke,” her family told The Times in a statement.
“Anna taught us many life lessons on how not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the finer things. Her impact on our lives will be forever missed but never forgotten.”
Shay appeared on Netflix’s “Bling Empire” when the reality series premiered in 2021. A billionaire heiress whose parents accumulated their riches in the arms and defense technology trade, Shay was the wealthiest of the cast members. Known for her sharp one-liners, she was a fan favorite, with “Best Burn” reels dedicated to her savage wit.
Her American father, Edward Shay, who founded the global defense contractor Pacific Architects and Engineers, met her part-Japanese, part-Russian mother, Ai Oizumi Shay, in Japan, and together they moved from Japan to Los Angeles when Shay was a child — along with her pet pocket monkey.
Shay’s father died in 1995 and her mother in 2015.
Due in part to her unique upbringing, and in part because Shay believed in taking advantage of everything life had to offer, she had a wealth of stories and talents that she had acquired over the course of her extravagant life. She could pilot a helicopter and run a military obstacle course. She learned to speak Spanish so she could manage a Cuban salsa band, and took a sledgehammer to the walls of her Sunset Boulevard estate, insisting she’d renovate it herself.
She was also known for her incredible generosity. She told Town & Country that she’d met a homeless man at a flower market at 4 a.m. who introduced himself as Elvis, and she put him up in an apartment and filled it with groceries for a month. She was also known to buy the salesperson the same item she bought for herself at luxury stores, and loved a good trip to Target, where she would often spend several grand on groceries and goodies only to take them home and give them away.
In other news – Convicted US spy found dead in prison
An FBI agent-turned-Russian mole who is notorious as one of the most damaging spies in US history has been found dead in prison.
Robert Hanssen was discovered at a maximum-security facility in Florence, Colorado, on Monday morning.Learn More
