clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Celebrity Dermatologist Dr. Brandt's Death Ruled a Suicide

Getty
Getty

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Police have confirmed that the cause of Dr. Brandt's death was indeed a suicide. The esteemed doctor hung himself inside of his garage at his home in Coconut Grove. He was suffering from depression.

Countless articles have been published citing his uncanny resemblance to a character in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as the reason, but people close to him stated that he had been suffering from depression for some time.

In a statement to the Miami Herald, one of his publicists, Jacquie Tractenberg, stated, "He did not commit suicide because of the show. The show didn't help. It was mean. He felt bullied. It was mean-spirited picking at the way he looked for no reason at all. But he suffered from depression before that."

Another source close to him told People"He was depressed. Did the show upset him? Yes. It was a mean characterization. He was a human being, no one would like that. It was making fun of him for the way he looked and it was mean and it was bullying. It was an illness, he suffered from depression. He always seemed like the life of the party, he would sing and rap his way through the day."

"It wasn't the only thing troubling him, it was just one factor," the source added. "It definitely hurt him. He was absolutely upset, who would want that? But that was not why he committed suicide. But it didn't help."

At the time of his death, New York Daily News reports that a psychologist had been treating Dr. Brandt for depression over the past ten days and that a friend had been staying with him "due to suicidal concerns for the deceased."