Montreal model and artist known as Zombie Boy dead at 32, found fame via Lady Gaga video

[EuTuCroquet?]

Montreal model and artist known as Zombie Boy dead at 32

His body-art attracted fashion designers and he modelled at high-end shows in Paris and Berlin. In 2011, he appeared in Lady Gaga's music video for the song Born This Way.

The British artist Marc Quinn is slated to create a 3.5-metre bronze sculpture of Genest for London's Science Museum next year.

...

Police sources told Radio-Canada that Genest died in Montreal's Plateau–Mont Royal borough around 5 p.m. on Wednesday. They are classifying his death as a suicide. ​

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Tweet from Lady Gaga:

The suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating. We have to work harder to change the culture, bring Mental Health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can’t talk about it. If you are suffering, call a friend or family today. We must save each other.

Lady Gaga on Twitter​

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

So sad...He would have turned 33 on August 7th. RIP.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

 

[Vedder]

So sad. I had a fangirl moment when he liked one of my tattoo pics on Insta. May he rest in peace.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Rick 'Zombie Boy' Genest’s Family Believe He Accidentally Fell to His Death: ‘There’s Too Many Inconsistencies’

“For us, the family and close entourage, we feel there’s too many inconsistencies around his death to rule it as a suicide, and for people to jump to conclusions that rapidly was disappointing,” Genest’s manager Karim Leduc told PEOPLE. He also confirmed that the 32-year-old actor and model, who famously appeared in Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” music video, died after falling off a balcony in Montreal.

“The balcony from which he fell on the third floor was a very dangerous balcony,” Leduc added.
[...]

“He’s not someone who, we feel, would commit suicide; he’s not someone who would do something like that because he’s very thoughtful of others,” Genest’s manager remarked. “Even though he was going through some very difficult, emotion[al] periods at the time, he hung on.”

[...]before his death, Genest “was with his girlfriend in her apartment and he told her, ‘I’m gonna go on the balcony and have a cigarette.’ ”

“After he was gone an unusually long time, she went to check up on him and she saw him on the ground at the bottom. She’s the one that ran up to him. She’s in a complete state of shock at the hospital now,” he explained.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

So sad. I had a fangirl moment when he liked one of my tattoo pics on Insta. May he rest in peace.

I've always had a soft spot for him. He seemed so down-to-earth to me.

 

[PinkPrincessPoop]

Oh no! I did not hear about this! I've known about him for years. This is so sad. 32 is still such a young age!

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Glad to see a new post. Zombie Boy has been on my mind these past days.

 

[jjenny]

This totally sounds like an accident. Apparently he would go there and sit on the railing. My guess he went there to sit on the railing, lost balance and fail backwards. For suicide, I presume one would go higher than a third floor.