Actress Natalie Desselle-Reid passed away on Monday from colon cancer, her family announced in an Instagram post.
“It is with extremely heavy hearts that we share the loss of our beautiful Natalie this morning from colon cancer,” the statement shared to the “BAP*S” actresses social media reads. “She was a bright light in this world. A queen. An extraordinary mother and wife.”
Aside from her iconic role in “BAP*S,” Deselle-Reid was also known for her roles in Desselle-Reid was known for her roles in “Madea’s Big Happy Family,” “Def Jam’s How to Be a Player,” as well as her character Janie Egins on three seasons of the television show “Eve.”
Halle Berry, who starred alongside Desselle-Reid in “BAP*S,” took to social media to pay tribute to her late friend.
“With her I laughed harder than I’d ever laughed before,” Berry recalled. “She showed us it was ok to be goofy and funny while still being sincere and extraordinarily kind,” Berry wrote. “She and I would hoot and holler over every BAPS tribute we came across, sending them back and forth to one another, overwhelmed that our on-screen friendship meant as much to you as it did to us. She was especially humbled by that, as am I.”
Berry continued: “Natalie represented actual black women, not what black women are perceived to be. For that she was often underrated, passed over — deprived of the platform she truly deserved. But her light continues to shine through the people who grew up watching her, the people who knew her best and those of us who loved her.”
Our condolences go out to Deselle-Reid’s family.
