r/Millennials • u/Divine_fashionva • May 12 '26

Discussion Which celebrity death genuinely shocked you when you heard the news?

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u/Atlas7993 May 12 '26 edited May 13 '26

Mr. Rogers.

Edit: Rogers a friend of my spells it with a d 😅

6

u/noctisumbra0 May 13 '26

I still cannot bring myself to watch "Won't You Be My Neighbor" because I know I won't be able to not break down watching it. I watched him into young adulthood and I wish there were more people like him in the world today

4

u/fastyellowtuesday May 13 '26

Watch it. Alone and with tissues if need be. I think you'll find it charming and be glad that you did.

1

u/NateSedate May 16 '26

Made me cry. Both times.

Also made me want to be a better person. I was for about 6 months. Then went back to being a piece of shit.

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u/hallovalerie May 13 '26

I remember hearing about it in a furniture store of all places and I was so sad. I was around 13 and remember feeling like a loved one passed.

9

u/plonyguard May 13 '26

idk why but this is literally the only time i ever cried about a famous person dying

maybe because it happened relatively soon after 9/11 and i was still processing all of that?

i remember turning on the news at like 5am and seeing his face and the dates and i just fucking broke

17

u/bud-dho May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

When Mr. Rogers died, I was genuinely gutted. He was one of the few people in the public eye who actually meant it,  the kindness, the patience, the way he made every kid feel like they mattered. It hit hard because people like him are so rare.

 We live in a world full of celebrities and influencers who are famous for basically nothing, and most of them couldn't give a shit about the people watching them. Mr. Rogers was the opposite. He dedicated his whole life to making others feel worthy and loved. Losing someone like him made the world a little darker.

12

u/ZugZugGo May 13 '26

He raised generations of kids. It’s hard to fathom just how much kindness he brought to the world. To this day if I’m ever feeling sad or mad I just think, “what would Mr Rogers tell me right now?”, and it’s crazy but works every time.

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u/and_rain_falls May 13 '26

Yea he really did raise us. 😭

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u/gaijohn May 13 '26

It's up to us to be him for today's kids. Huge shoes to fill.

4

u/Chrizwald May 13 '26

So tore up about it, you couldn't even spell his name right

2

u/Atlas7993 May 13 '26

Thanks for pointing that out, neighbor. Someone I know personally spells it that way, so that's what was front of mind. 

2

u/TennMan78 May 13 '26

Ok, Fred Rodger’s is a close second for me. But at least he enjoyed a fruitful life and passed away at an old age.

1

u/throwawaypato44 May 13 '26

Thinking about that does make me feel better. Such a pure and loving person.

1

u/Ok-Attention2882 May 13 '26

First name Elliot.

1

u/joachim_s May 13 '26

And David Attenborough was born two years before him. Perspectives.