Bert Belasco: Yvette Nicole Brown ‘Gutted’ Over Friend’s Death

Actor Bert Belasco, who starred in the BET series Let’s Stay Together, died on Sunday at 38. Community star Yvette Nicole Brown mourned Belasco’s death, revealing that she recently spoke to him, and he was excited about his next project. Brown shared a personal photo with Belasco as well and reminded her fans that “no day is promised.”

“I am gutted by this news. Bert was my friend! We had JUST talked last week. He was happy and excited about his new project and all the good that was to come,” Brown wrote Monday. “No day is promised. NO DAY.” Later, she shared a photo with Belasco. “Please let the ones you love KNOW that you love them today, right now,” she wrote. “Any moment could be your last.” Brown called Balasco a “dear, kind, gentle man.”

Jackee Henry, who co-starred on Let’s Stay Together with Belasco, also shared a tribute to the actor. “Heartbroken at the passing of Bert Belasco – a talented, kind young man who I had the pleasuring of working with numerous times on [Let’s Stay Together],” she wrote. “Squeeze your loved ones tight! Tomorrow is never promised.”

Belasco’s father, Bert Belasco Sr., told TMZ Monday his son was found dead in a Richmond, Virginia hotel room. He was in the city to start a new movie project and was required to quarantine at the hotel before he could start work on the movie. The circumstances of his death are unknown, but sources told TMZ Belasco’s girlfriend could not get a hold of him. She asked the hotel staff to check in on him, and they discovered his body. Belasco’s family is still awaiting autopsy results. However, his father told TMZ he believes the actor suffered an aneurysm.

Belasco began his television career in 2007 when he appeared in an episode of House. In 2011, he scored a breakout role as Charles Whitmore on BET’s Let’s Stay Together, which ran until 2014. He starred alongside Nadine Ellis, who played his on-screen wife Stacy in the family sitcom. After the show wrapped, Belasco scored a role in Fox’s short-lived baseball drama Pitch. He also starred in episodes of The Mick, Superstore, I’m Dying Up Here, American Princess, and The Big Show. According to his IMDb page, Belasco was finishing a project called For Prophet starring Chicago Fire vet Ben Marten.