Gaga: Zombie Boy death ‘not suicide’

LADY GAGA has been admonished for declaring the death of her video co-star as suicide.

The 32-year-old pop star, who made headlines last week after announcing that Rick Genest – aka Zombie Boy – had killed himself due to mental health issues, has been forced to apologise as his loved ones insist he didn’t take his own life. He fell from a balcony at his home in Montreal, Canada, last Wednesday.

Gaga tweeted: “Out of respect for Rick’s family, Rick & his legacy I apologise if I spoke too soon as there were no witnesses or evidence to support any conclusion for the cause of his death. I in no way meant to draw an unjust conclusion. My deepest condolences to his entire family and friends.”

Gaga, who met heavily tattooed Rick when he starred in the 2011 video for her hit song Born This Way, went on to share a photo of art they made together. The model’s family says there were too many inconsistencies for his death to be ruled a suicide and slammed the “disappointing” conclusions people had drawn. Rick’s manager, Karim Leduc, explained: “The balcony from which he fell on the third floor was very dangerous. Just three weeks ago, I visited that balcony with him… It’s an emergency/ fire escape balcony – and he was leaning his back towards it and he fell from his backside on to the floor.” Last week, Gaga wrote: “The suicide of friend Rick Genest, Zombie Boy is beyond devastating. We have to work harder to change the culture, bring mental health to the forefront and erase the stigma that we can’t talk about it.”