Lance O’Brien, Tanya Roberts’ longtime partner, theorized about what may have led her aide to reporters that the actress had died while being treated at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles for an unknown illness.
Roberts, best known for her role on “That 70’s Show”, has not died, but is still hospitalized.
He said he was finally allowed to see her days after she was hospitalized. He said he thought she was “recovering”, but nurses said she was close to death.
“I finally get to the elevator because no one [wants] to help you out of there – you’re in a vast hospital with no staff around – and I take the elevator down, I didn’t know where I was and a security guard took me to find [Roberts’ publicist] Michael [Pingel]. “
O’Brien remembers Pingel asking what happened during the visit, and he said he had “just said goodbye to Tanya”.
TANYA ROBERTS STILL LIVES DESPITE THE REPORTS OF HIS DEATH
Pingel on Sunday confirmed to several media and on Facebook that the star of “That ’70s Show” died at age 65 after being hospitalized in Los Angeles.
Actress Tanya Roberts is still alive, despite reports that she died on Sunday. (Photo by Paul Archuleta / FilmMagic)
However, on Monday, it was revealed that Roberts was still alive in the hospital.
“It could just be a miscommunication in some way,” O’Brien told Fox News about the mess of reports.
“The next thing I know is that I get home and on my cell phone, there is a [notification] that Tanya Roberts passed away, “recalled O’Brien, adding later:” This is God’s honest truth, exactly what happened. “
After Sunday’s devastating night, O’Brien agreed to speak to Inside Edition about the ordeal to expose his complaints to Cedars, but in the middle of the interview, he got a call from the hospital.
“They want to talk to me about Tonya Roberts … I was a little upset, and I thought, ‘Well, she died. What are you talking about? She’s dead,'” he recalled. “[They said,] ‘No, she is not dead, she is right here.’ “
CELEBRITIES REACT TO THE DEATH OF GIRL TANYA ROBERTS BOND AT THE AGE OF 65
O’Brien admits that he doesn’t remember much of the moment, but Inside Edition posted the video interview and his emotions are visible.
“I was, like, out of my mind,” he said.
On Monday, the advertiser told The Hollywood Reporter that he “got confirmation [of her death], but it was from a very disturbed person [O’Brien]. “
According to the Associated Press, O’Brien told Pingel that Roberts “looked like he was running away”.
Tanya Roberts remains in ‘very serious’ conditions at the hospital, her representative Mike Pingel told Fox News. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong, Archive)
On December 30, Roberts contracted a virus that she thought was a coronavirus, so she made an appointment to get tested, but at 4 am the next day, O’Brien said he woke up and found her on the floor and unable to get up.
Paramedics arrived and treated her with oxygen. They take her to the hospital.
“When they arrive at Cedars-Sinai, it is the last time I hear from her,” he said. “They told me that she is receiving oxygen and that I cannot speak to her and that I cannot go and visit her because no one is allowed to enter and they do not know whether she has COVID or not.”
(He said her test was negative about 48 hours later.)
CELEBRITIES REACTED THE DEATH OF GIRL TANYA ROBERTS BOND AT 65
“They put her in the ICU, but not in the ICU,” said O’Brien. He compared the room to a coffee shop and said it was “terrible”.
Tanya Roberts stars as Stacey Sutton in the James Bond film ‘A View To A Kill’. She was also known for roles in ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and’ That ’70s Show’. (Photo by Keith Hamshere / Getty Images)
O’Brien said it was difficult to get updates on his condition.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the city’s hospitals were flooded with COVID-19 cases. The report said EMS workers were advised to reduce oxygen use and avoid transporting patients who have virtually no chance of recovery.
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Roberts was in “perfect health,” according to O’Brien. He said she had taken a “four or five hour hike in the Hollywood Hills” just before her hospitalization.
Pingel originally told The Hollywood Reporter that Roberts had been hospitalized since December 24 after she passed out while walking her dogs, although O’Brien said “there was nothing wrong with her” before her New Year’s Eve incident, except “some stomach problems.”
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Cedars-Sinai and Pingel did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment.