Riley Keough paid tribute to her late brother, Benjamin, three months after her brother’s death by suicide. The Mad Max: Fury Road actress, 31, took to Instagram on October 21 to honor her younger brother on what would have been his 28th birthday. The actress, as she has done in the past, shared a series of photos in her post, featuring herself and her brother.
The first two images featured the siblings dressed-up for a formal event, sharing a laugh and posing for the camera. The two photos that followed showed Riley and her brother as youngsters, with the final image of Benjamin when he was just an innocent child, which you can see here. “Happy Birthday beautiful angel,” Riley captioned the images, adding two storm cloud emojis along with a red heart emoji.
The heartfelt birthday message comes roughly three months after Benjamin Keough died by suicide on July 12 in Calabasas. The Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed to HollywoodLife on July 14 that the son of Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough and grandson of Priscilla Presley died by suicide after suffering an “intra-oral shotgun wound.” In the time following Benjamin’s death, his family mourned privately, sharing statements mostly through social media. But as time has gone by, Riley has used her platform to keep her brother’s memory alive as much as she possibly can.
In the days following her brother’s tragic death, Riley shared the first message that honored her brother’s life on July 18. “Mornings are the hardest. I forget you’re gone. I can’t cry because of the fear that I will never stop,” she began her post. “There are no words for you. Angel is the closest I could think of. Pure light. Baby brother…I hope you feel my love. I hope you feel god. You are god. I can’t believe you’ve left me. Not you sweet Ben Ben. Anyone but you. I guess this is true heartbreak. I hope we meet again.”
As time went by without her brother, Riley chose to honor him again by getting a tattoo of his name in order to keep him with her all the days of her life. In other posts, the actress celebrated the time she spent with her brother, sharing intimate videos and photos of Benjamin throughout his life. We know Riley has made her mother, father, grandmother, and family so proud with her simple, beautiful words.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.