Anna Shay, a socialite who starred in Netflix’s reality TV series Bling Empire, has died. The news was confirmed by her family Monday.
“It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mother, grandmother, charismatic star and our brightest ray of sunshine, has passed away at the early age of 62 from a stroke,” her family wrote in a statement to our sister site Variety. “Anna taught us many life lessons on how not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the finer things. Her impact on our lives will be forever missed but never forgotten.”
The reality star was born and raised in Japan by her half-Japanese, half-Russian mother Ai Ozumi and her father, American businessman Edward Shay. Edward was the founder of the global defense contractor Pacific Architects and Engineers. After his death in 1995, Shay’s brother Allen became CEO. In 2006, the siblings sold the company to Lockheed Martin, making them heirs to the company fortune.
Bling Empire, often colloquially referred to as “a real life Crazy Rich Asians,” ran on Netflix for three seasons and produced one spinoff, Bling Empire: New York. Shay starred alongside Kane Lim, Gabriel and Christine Chiu, Kim Lee, Jaime Xie and other Asian American Los Angeles socialites. In April of this year, the streamer cancelled the entire franchise in one fell swoop.
Shay is survived by her son Kenny Kemp.
This story originally appeared on TVLine
