The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner has revealed comedian, producer, and writer Jak Knight’s cause of death following an autopsy of the beloved entertainer.
The coroner ruled Knight’s cause of death a suicide as he was previously found on a Los Angeles embankment suffering from a gunshot wound on July 14. His untimely passing sent a shockwave through Hollywood, being that he was widely known for his groundbreaking work on the hit Netflix animated series Big Mouth, the hit ABC series Black-ish, the Peacock comedy Bust Down, and the HBO Max series and Pause with Sam Jay.
Prior to the coroner’s determination was delivered, an agency representative of the 28-year-old reportedly announced his death, saying, “Knight’s loved ones ask that their privacy please be respected during this extremely difficult time.”
His Bust Down family, Peacock, and Universal Television also released a joint statement about it.
“We are devastated by the passing of Jak Knight,” the statement said. “He was a brilliant comedian, visionary, and artist, and we were all lucky to experience his greatness. Our hearts are with Jak’s family, friends, and community during this heartbreaking time.”
The following day, on July 15, Comedy Central sent out a tweet honoring Knight.
“Jak Knight was a hysterical and honest comedian. We will miss him tremendously,” Comedy Central wrote.
Jak Knight was a hysterical and honest comedian. We will miss him tremendously. pic.twitter.com/F1dQEjT5GV
— comedycentral (@ComedyCentral) July 15, 2022
The Seattle native toured the world as a standup comedian, opening for several notable veteran comedians, including Dave Chappelle and Eric Andre. He was also named a “Comedy Central Comic to Watch” in 2014 and made an appearance on the Netflix standup show The Comedy Lineup in 2018.
In an interview with Portland rapper Amine in 2020, Knight expressed his excitement for the new era of Black representation on TV.
“I’m so excited about all the representation that’s on TV today for being Black,” he said. “Before, we had representation being Black on TV, but we didn’t have the specific representation of being Black on TV.”
He opened up about his experience being a Black man from the Northwest as well.
“You have to hold on to whatever blackness you have, and you can’t let nobody shake that s**t because there is nobody else reaffirming it other than your momma and your daddy at the house. Every day you leave your door in Oregon and Washington, or in any space that’s predominantly white or anything that isn’t you, and you have to go out there and take your blackness, and you have to hold it, and ball it up in your fists. If anyone tries to undo your fists, you got to be like, ‘Nah, n***a, this is the truth. This is the answer to all the s**t.'”
