Good Morning America producer Daisha Riley has died. She was 35.
“One of our stars, Daisha Riley, a young and talented producer, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away,” GMA co-host Michael Strahan shared with viewers on Tuesday. “She rose through the ranks over the years on our show, working on stories that have made so many of you, our viewers, smile and tear up. Her legacy lives on in a powerful voice she shared through storytelling.”
The program honored Riley and her 14 years at GMA.
“You might not have known Daisha Riley’s name, but if you watched GMA for the past 14 years, trust us, you saw her incredible work, because Daisha loved nothing more than telling America a story,” Strahan shared.
“Daisha Riley could write a breaking news piece with lightning speed. On features, she could make you cry with her exquisite use of words,” he added. “And when Amy [Robach] interviewed the cast of Game of Thrones, you’d better believe that Daisha made sure that set actually had a throne to make the actors’ jaws drop.”
Riley “had grit and grace,” Strahan recalled one colleague saying. “She took pride in her work, and she fought for it, because to Daisha, there was no greater privilege than helping you at home start your day. And trust us when we say that for all of us at GMA, there was no greater privilege than knowing Daisha Riley.”
“She was never the loudest voice in the room, but she was always the smartest,” he added, remembering Riley as funny, smart, “a world-class producer, a pillar of GMA, and a friend to us all.”
“She was beloved by all of us here. Her smile lit up a room,” Strahan shared. “It’s hard for us and difficult to even wrap our heads around this, but we can’t express how much we are going to miss her. We are thinking about her family and her fiancé, Tyrone, this morning.”
GMA’s senior executive producer, Michael Corn, wrote he was “heartbroken” over Riley’s death, while anchor Robin Roberts also paid tribute to Riley on Twitter.
“Daisha Riley was a remarkable woman….talented, creative, kind, a beautiful soul in every way,” she wrote. “Condolences to her beloved family. Our @GMA family loved her and will be forever grateful to have experienced Daisha’s grace & grit.”
