Porn star Dakota Skye died at age 27, just weeks after she came under fire for posing topless at George Floyd's memorial.
Skye, whose real name was Lauren Scott, died at her Los Angeles motorhome on Wednesday, according to The Sun. Her husband later identified her.
A cause of death has not been given, but Skye's aunt, Linda Arden, revealed that she had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and developed a dependency on fentanyl.
"Her real life story and how she came to be in that industry, has truly been a tragedy. She died almost exactly two years after her mother, my baby sister's, death which was caused by addiction and alcoholism," Arden said. "Lauren was a product of a highly dysfunctional family involving drugs, alcohol, physical, emotional, verbal and sexual abuse."
Skye sparked outrage last month when she posted a now-deleted photo of herself topless in front of Floyd's memorial.
"Happy #GeorgeFloyd day in #santabarbara <3 #dakotaskye equality&fair treatment for all. Dope mural," she captioned the image, according to The Sun. Fans were not impressed.
"This is some serious disrespectful bulls*** Lauren," one replied.
"wtf what does flashing have to do with George Floyd death," another wrote.
"I’m celebrating BAD cops being checked with abusing there authority against human beings .. hello," Skye wrote in response to the criticism. "No human being should die getting arrested."
It has since emerged that Skye may have been sex trafficked. Porn star Alana Evans, who was a friend of Skye's, made the claim in a tweet.
"Dakota was in an absolutely horrible relationship with a guy who was selling her at every turn. I tried many times to help her leave to which she refused. She even walked out of a rehab my friends helped put her in. Let me grieve," she wrote.
Evans dismissed rumors that Skye had committed suicide and reiterated her previous comments about Skye's battle with addiction.
"Don’t talk about my relationship with Dakota. No one knows the things that I have been through with that young lady," she wrote. "At the end, we had a tough time because Dakota was not sober and was angry when I would tell her she wasn’t. I was one of few people who would tell her the truth."
Arden told The Sun that Skye was "stalked by demons like no one will ever understand unless you've lived it," adding that she found some comfort in knowing her pain had ended.
"She no longer has to walk through this world in pain in her own prison and that gives me comfort to know she no longer has to fight the voices and images that haunted her," she said.
"She was an addict and an alcoholic," Arden added. "But really all she was doing was searching for love, someone to care about her."
If you or someone you know is suffering from addiction, call the American Addiction Centers hotline on (866) 399-3979 for free and confidential guidance. For listings of drug and alcohol rehab centers in your state, visit
Addiction Helpline America.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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