Comedian Fuquan Johnson, 42, died from a suspected overdose. Reports point to 2 others in addition to Johnson, unknowingly taking cocaine-laced fentanyl while attending a party. The party was in Venice Beach, California. Fellow comedian and model Kate Quigley survived but was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Quigley had dated country singer Darius Rucker last year, but they are no longer together.
Friend and fellow comedian Marlon Wayans posted a long tribute for Johnson on Instagram. “Thank you nephew. I love you. I hope you found peace. I hope you sparkling like the glitter on strippers and wizards”.
Other comedians posted tributes such as Johnny Taylor. He wrote, “hey everybody, please stop doing cocaine, please. All it takes is one wrong batch or the wrong night or any combination of either. RIP Fuquan Johnson and really pulling for Kate Quigley to pull through.”
Kate Quigley did eventually pull through and has since broken her silence about the episode that killed three others. However, friends and family reveal she is in “pretty bad shape”. Investigators believed the four friends all consumed a batch of cocaine laced with fenteanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin.
Fuquan Johnson was a writer for “Comedy Parlour Live”. The medical examiner will eventually determine what killed Johnson and the other victims. Fentanyl is also known as a synthetic pain killer, and has been a factor in the deaths of Prince, Mac Miller, and Tom Petty.
Social media users have been warning lately of tainted cocaine making the rounds in the city’s party scene this spring and summer.
