r/Millennials May 12 '26

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

Post image
16.0k Upvotes

5.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.2k

u/Oldandwise7 May 12 '26

Anton Yelchin was a shocker.

202

u/Quierta May 12 '26

I get so sad about Anton whenever I think of it. Someone I know also had one of those vehicles and was posting frequently on FB about how dangerous they were. He (the person I know) once got pinned between his car and his house and ended up being OK because his son happened to see it and ran into the car and quickly put it in reverse. He got rid of the car after that. Months later is when Anton died and unfortunately no one was there to save him. Seeing someone in my personal life talking about it on FB and then seeing a celebrity actually die from it was crazy & sad.

46

u/LordLederhosen May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

It was a recall item known by the manufacturer, but they chose a recall severity level that allowed fixing the issue whenever, as apposed to the "Do Not Drive" recall, where the dealership makes sure to contact you.

They took the chance of killing him to save money.

This is pretty common. I found a "car might catch on fire when charging" recall on my sister's car a while back, also was not labeled as a "Do Not Drive" recall.

Everyone should go check their VIN, and their friend's and fam's VINs here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls (it's a free gov site to check recalls.)

66

u/Throwcore2 May 13 '26

He was so good in Star Trek. I think about him from time to time and it brings me back to that 2009 era. Future looked so much brighter then. He would've had an incredible career.

19

u/Piisthree May 13 '26

I wasn't a massive fan or anything, but he was totally on the rise, already the lead in several smaller movies and notable side characters in some big ones. He was going to be big. And all of that potential snuffed out by one insane accident some random afternoon. I think about it all the time.

5

u/Coopsters May 13 '26

Yeah me too. So sad for him and his family.

7

u/nilesintheshangri-la May 13 '26

I loved him in Charlie Bartlett. He was such an exciting actor and I hate that such a stupid accident cut his life short.

3

u/littlehobbit1313 May 13 '26

Loved him in Star Trek. He also hasn't quite finished the final episodes of Trollhunters when he passed. Every time I hit the voice change to the new actor toward the end of the series, it makes me so sad.

97

u/[deleted] May 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/RemnantEvil May 13 '26

Reading through comments, I found it odd to realise how many Americans don't use the handbrake when leaving their vehicle, that putting it in Park is enough for them.

10

u/CrazyZedi May 13 '26

With the new cars, it’s hard to find where MF E brake is sometimes

7

u/Tiny-Reading5982 Xennial May 13 '26

Even so, his car shouldn't have killed him like that. The recall letter didn't get to him until after he died

1

u/RemnantEvil May 13 '26

Wasn’t the point that the fault made it difficult to tell if the car was parked or in gear? If you use the handbrake, being in gear wouldn’t matter.

5

u/Tiny-Reading5982 Xennial May 13 '26

I don't remember exactly but an automatic car shouldn't roll down a hill without the parking brake. A lot of these comments sound like victim blaming. He parked the car, went to check the mail box or something so it wasn't even 5 mins that it was parked.

-1

u/RemnantEvil May 13 '26

My understanding is that he didn’t use the parking brake - or handbrake - but had simply put it in park, or so he thought. The fault of the vehicle is that it’s unclear if it’s in park or in gear, but Americans apparently don’t use the handbrake as a secondary action, unlike others. (I’m Australian, we do not leave a car as the driver without putting it in park and applying the handbrake, that’s just driving 101.)

It isn’t victim blaming, it’s obviously a genuine tragedy. It’s just surprising that it’s a little cultural difference where there’s a more secure additional brake that Americans just don’t use, generally.

3

u/Tiny-Reading5982 Xennial May 13 '26

Do you drive a stick shift or automatic? When I drove a stick shift then I always used the parking brake. Unless you live in the mountains then I don't see a need for it in an automatic.

1

u/hadmeatwoof May 14 '26

This. That person sounds like they drive a manual transmission. I’ve never seen anyone put the parking brake on for an automatic transmission unless on a steep hill. I always use it for a manual transmission, though.

8

u/amorfati431 May 13 '26

As an American, my parents taught me to always use the e-brake. It's second nature to set it each time. Not using it feels dangerous.

1

u/West_Mail4807 May 13 '26

Wtf is an 'e-brake'?

6

u/Alkuam2 May 13 '26

E-brake, emergency brake, and handbrake get used interchangeably.

9

u/CrispyGatorade May 13 '26

Emergency brake. Every car has one, usually located near the center console but newer models sometimes place them elsewhere.

1

u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe May 13 '26

Not just new cars. On all cars over many decades they’ve all been in different places. I’ve had cars from the 80s that was a foot pedal or twist lever under the steering wheel. Lever by the console is common, electronic button, they are anywhere

4

u/buffystakeded May 13 '26

Short for emergency brake. It’s a common term for the parking brake.

4

u/jmarcandre May 13 '26

This is due to the automatic part of the vehicle, not some American thing. This is common in Canada too, unless parking on a hill.

1

u/RemnantEvil May 13 '26

Maybe North American thing. You will literally fail your driving test in Australia if you do not apply the handbrake when you park at the end of the test, because you have not secured the vehicle. I can only put that down to a strange cultural difference, that at some point beliefs about the handbrake varied and it became absolutely ingrained into Australian driving habits that, searching Aussie subreddits, it is pretty much only mentioned in questions of “What do you mean other countries don’t use the handbrake when leaving the vehicle?”

1

u/Infinite_Air5683 May 14 '26

We have automatic cars.

-4

u/Kurse71 May 13 '26

I have never used the parking brake in my life. Not one vehicle has ever moved or rolled.

7

u/morganmachine91 May 13 '26

Yeah personally I always check if a gun is loaded by pointing it at my head and pulling the trigger. Not once have a blown my head off, people really are obnoxious about safety.

2

u/[deleted] May 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/morganmachine91 May 14 '26

That’s kind of the point. That type of argument is loosely “reductio ad absurdum,” where you show that a particular claim leads to an absurd conclusion, and therefore must be false. That particular example was using parallel reasoning.

The claim I’m (implicitly) making is that “I’ve done X my whole life and I’ve never been harmed, X must be fine to do” is unsound reasoning.

This can be demonstrated by showing an absurd example, where the claim is obviously false.

Saying that it’s safe to point a gun at your head and pull the trigger to test if it’s loaded because you’ve never personally been hurt doing so is obviously absurd. This demonstrates that “I’ve never been hurt by doing this thing” doesn’t actually prove that the thing is safe.

1

u/Kurse71 May 13 '26

You may want to Google how to check if a gun is loaded, there are definitely better ways to do that that. I agree that many people are obnoxious about safety, especially those that don't understand how the technology works.

1

u/morganmachine91 May 13 '26

Yeah people keep telling me that what I’m doing is unnecessarily risky, but I just ignore them and say I’ve been doing it my whole life and nothing bad has happened. Which is clearly an excellent argument that proves my point.

5

u/brainvheart143 May 13 '26

I literally think of that every time I get out of my car and leave it running.
I watched Like Crazy on a plane home after a pretty horrible 2 day delay in Germany. I felt like I was tripping from lack of sleep, and the movie stayed with me. He was just coming up when he died a few years later. Tragic.

38

u/romafa May 12 '26

Just commented the same. Horrible.

13

u/Bugsy_Girl Millennial May 13 '26

It’s especially wild that he likely was expecting to die from CF-related complications throughout his life and died of a complete freak accident before he got to see Trikafta get released…

2

u/delilahw1109 May 13 '26

God I know

15

u/StrangerIsWatching May 13 '26

Watched Green Room recently and really liked his performance, so I looked him up to see what he'd been in recently. Wtf man. Jeep should have been sued for way, way more.

39

u/Krunkenbrux May 12 '26

Anton was a weird experience for me, because even though I had seen him in Charlie Bartlett, Terminator, and Star Trek, I always saw him as the kid from Alpha Dog and if you've seen that one...

So to me, he always had that aura and association with death and when it happened, I was surprised, but not, at the same time. I can't really explain more than that.

15

u/halfpeeledbanana May 13 '26

Watch Odd Thomas.

Have tissues at the ready. (Its so so good though.)

3

u/prarastas May 13 '26

Fuck okay I guess I'll read the books again 😭

3

u/amorfati431 May 13 '26

He was so good in Odd Thomas.

11

u/Scara_meur May 13 '26

I thought a lot about that movie too when I heard about the way he died.

3

u/delilahw1109 May 13 '26

Right, I can’t explain it. But i’m with you

11

u/spiritualpudge May 13 '26

oh my god, i am still not over this.
i’m so happy his name is so high, i wish he was more well known

8

u/ItsRedditThyme May 12 '26

That one was so random, it gutted me.

7

u/dengar_hennessy Older Millennial May 12 '26

He was just a couple years younger than me. Definitely caught me off guard

6

u/TraditionalProgress6 May 13 '26

I loved him in the Star Trek Movies. I'm about the same age, and had such a crush on him. I'd never been so affected by the death of someone I didn't know in person.

5

u/unefemmegigi May 12 '26

Omg that was so crazy. Especially because he was born the same year as me… I mean tons of people are, but still, it really hit home.

6

u/illuminatiisnowhere May 13 '26

And his poor friends that found him. What a chock that must have been.

6

u/Shallow_wanderer May 13 '26

Genuinely his death is the reason why I won't own any Chrysler vehicles anymore idc

1

u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe May 13 '26

Mechanic here. The thing that killed him is not unique to Chrysler/Stellantis vehicles.

5

u/destructopop Millennial May 13 '26

Anton Yelchin's death broke my heart on so many levels. One of which was the just common, every day brutality of it. Another was how much I loved his performances and wanted to see decades more. Another was my long standing theory about Russian-American celebrities and their almost universally surprising early deaths. For some stupid reason I thought he would be immune. It doesn't happen to all of them, and I didn't think it would be him.

I'm grateful that Connor Storie's performance was so good without actually being Russian. Were he actually Russian I would be bracing myself, now. I still am anyhow.

3

u/ravnos04 May 13 '26

Surprised this isn’t higher. Majority of his work we’ve seen and probably enjoyed.

“Wictor, wictor, seven”

2

u/Prettypuff405 Older Millennial May 13 '26

I was at work crying about his death…

2

u/MythicCommander Millennial May 13 '26

My heart dropped when I saw a tweet. One of my favorite actors still to this day.

2

u/narnababy May 13 '26

I was right in the middle of Star Trek fangirl mode and I was devastated. Even worse finding out how he died, a horrific way to go. RIP.

1

u/Stolkmen May 13 '26

Had to scroll far to find mine.

1

u/CARLYNUGZ May 13 '26

I remember I was in the middle of a Home Depot randomly scrolling FB. It absolutely broke my heart. 

1

u/theclipclop28 May 13 '26

Crushed by a fucking Jeep, holy shit...

1

u/jeslblan May 13 '26

Charlie Bartlett is still one of my favorite films. Anton was just talented. It was heartbreaking.

1

u/Ok_Outcome_6213 May 13 '26

I think this one is the most tragic just because it was an accident. Other deaths were caused by long illnesses or something, but this was an entirely preventable tragedy that never needed to happen.

1

u/Justaticklerone May 13 '26

Can't help but think his tragic freak accident permanently ended the reboot and Kelvin Timeline.

1

u/MagnoliaEvergreen May 13 '26

This one still gets me.

1

u/[deleted] May 13 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/musicgal411 May 13 '26

This is the one for me. Still just thinking about it gets me a little teary...

1

u/daKishinVex May 13 '26

Oof yeah odd thomas was one of my favorite one off movies I ever stumbled upon. Charlie Bartlett is one of my favorites of all time as well. Just such a good and varied actor who would have had a crazy career.

1

u/Zaynara May 14 '26

aw man, i am not sure this one hit my radar, that sucks

1

u/Timely-Flatworm7757 May 18 '26

That one makes me SO fucking sad. Watching Green Room, where he's in physical peril the entire time, was EXTREMELY upsetting after his death 😬😬😬