Christopher "Big Black" Boykin died from a suspected heart attack on Tuesday. He was 45.
The MTV personality, widely known for starring on "Rob & Big" with skateboarder Rob Dyrdek, was a military man before Dyrdek hired him to be his bodyguard for a DC Shoes promo, according to the New York Daily News.
That sparked the start of MTV’s "Rob & Big" reality show, which gave viewers a look into Dyrdek and Boykins’ day-to-day lives, which included a lot of funny pranks and other jokes that the duo brought to the show.
The show was on the air from 2006 to 2008.
The two teamed up again in 2009 for "Fantasy Factory," another reality TV show that aired through 2015.
During a 2016 episode of Dyrdek’s "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" talk show, he opened up about his split with
Boykin in 2016, according to the International Business Times.
"It was a strange period, because both me and him…I had been a pro skateboarder for years, so transitioning into mainstream fame was relatively smooth where for him it was the idea that he was working security two years earlier and now he’s on television," Dyrdek said, according to People magazine.
"It was a much different dynamic, but I think we both struggled with…I didn’t want to be known as Rob from ‘Rob & Big,’ and I think he didn’t want to be known as the sidekick. So that created a lot of that tension between me and him," he added.
"I think it was more the fundamental struggle of wanting to not be so connected to each other," Dyrdek said. "Ultimately, after we had a big blowout creatively over an idea…things were so tense at certain times – it’s funny now that I think about it – but we literally would film some of the funniest things that we have ever done and would be losing it and then walk away and not talk to each other. It was super, super bizarre."
The two didn’t end on bad terms, though. Just weeks ago, Big Black took to Instagram to share a throwback picture of him and Rob.
MTV issued a statement about Boykins’ death.
"MTV is deeply saddened to learn the news of Christopher ‘Big Black’ Boykin’s passing," an MTV spokesman told the New York Daily News. "He was a long time and beloved member of the MTV family and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends at this time."
Boykin was remembered on Twitter.
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