Julia Louis-Dreyfus Breaks Silence on Sister Emma’s Death

Veep actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus has finally broken her silence on the death of her younger sister, Emma Louis-Dreyfus.

“It was out of the blue,” the actress said in a New Yorker profile published Wednesday, four months after Emma’s death. “Given the fact that that heinous s— came out, I would simply say I’ve kept this under wraps out of reverence for my dearest Emma. It’s been a very bad period of time.”

Emma passed away in August after overdosing on cocaine and alcohol, according to a report from the Daily Mail. Julia and Emma were half-sisters, sharing a father — William Louis-Dreyfus — but being born to different mothers.

According to the outlet, Emma was camping with a group of friends in South Yuba River State Park, California, when the tragic overdose occurred. It wasn’t until recently that the local coroner officially ruled her death an accident.

An obituary for Emma published in the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that she was “raised a New Yorker,” but later relocated to the Bay Area in her adult life.

“Emma loved the city life and she also loved the countryside, particularly the Sierra Nevada and Teton mountains,” the obituary continued. “One of her favorite weekend getaways was the Yuba River. It was along that river where Emma died of an apparent seizure while camping with friends near Purdon Crossing.”

As a child and teenager, she attended the Bank Street School for Children and the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York, later going on to graduate from Brown University, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“Emma was a large presence despite her short stature, filling rooms with her exuberance and irreverent laugh. Dinner party games were a must with her. Favorites included charades, cards, Balderdash, Twister, Monopoly,” the obituary for the social worker continued. “She enjoyed the camaraderie and the competition of playing sports (soccer, touch-football, tennis, softball), drank Tab and always had gumballs and Werther’s in her bag to hand out.”

“A brilliant, progressive thinker and supporter of social justice, Emma’s desire to help those in need is what led her to complete a Masters in Social Welfare degree in 2002 from the University of California, Berkeley,” the obituary added. “Outside of work, Emma loved to hike, camp, ski and travel. Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru. In Barcelona, she watched Spain win the 2010 World Cup with a friend. With her mother, she traveled through Asia.”

The obituary went on to note that “Emma is survived by her mother, Phyllis; sisters, Phoebe Eavis and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and their husbands, Peter Eavis and Brad Hall; brother, Raphael Penteado; niece, Victoria Eavis; nephews, Henry Hall, Charlie Hall, and Isaiah Eavis; and her partner Sean Kim.”

Emma was 44 years old at the time of her death.