Updated Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, 9:15 a.m. EST: Multiple outlets are reporting that Ensa Cosby died from renal disease, a condition that impairs kidney function. Bill Cosby’s spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, confirmed the cause of death to CNN.
The news network also shared a statement from the Cosby family, which thanked “many people for their prayers for their beloved and beautiful Ensa.”
Earlier:
TMZ is reporting that Ensa Cosby, Bill Cosby’s 44-year-old daughter, has died. The entertainment-gossip site says she passed away Friday night in Massachusetts. The cause of death is still not known at this time, although TMZ notes that she had “significant medical issues in the past” and had kidney issues and was “possibly in line for a transplant.”
As TMZ notes, Ensa Cosby had staunchly supported her father as he faced multiple allegations of rape and sexual misconduct. Last year she wrote that her father “has been publicly lynched in the media and my family, my young daughter, my young niece and nephew have had to stand helplessly by and watch the double standard or pretending to protect the rights of some but ignoring the rights of others.”
Her death comes just weeks before her father is set to return to a Pennsylvania courtroom to be retried on rape charges, the Daily Mail reports.