Grant Imahara's death is the latest in a string of sad events for the Mythbusters cast. Photo / Getty Images
Grant Imahara's death is the latest in a string of sad events for the Mythbusters cast. Photo / Getty Images
Another celebrity death this week has sent shockwaves through Hollywood and beyond, with former MythBusters host Grant Imahara passing away on Monday.
It is understood Imahara, 49, died suddenly following a brain aneurysm.
It's not the only tragedy to afflict the MythBusters community, with the Discovery Channel series that tests the validity of popular myths and legends marked by tragedy and dotted with scandal over the years.
The so-called "MythBusters curse" mirrors that of another series making headlines this week.
On the same day of Imahara's passing, Glee star Naya Rivera's body was found in Lake Piru, confirming the actor had drowned during a day out on the water with her son.
Many have linked the tragedy to the "Glee curse", following years of shocking crew deaths and allegations against its young cast.
It seems it's not the only cursed TV show, with MythBusters also following a dark timeline.
Tributes are flowing for former MythBusters host Imahara, who died at the age of just 49.
The sad news was confirmed by a Discovery Channel representative in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter yesterday.
"We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant," the statement read.
"He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family."
RIP Grant Imahara, host of Mythbusters, The White Rabbit Project, and an advid maker of Animatronics, like Deadblow on Battlebots, updating R2D2 in the Star Wars Prequels, and The 2008 Energizer Bunny.
Imahara co-hosted more than 200 episodes of the incredibly popular science programme between 2005 and 2014.
The electrical engineer and roboticist also starred in the Netflix series White Rabbit Project.
He is survived by his long-term partner, costume designer Jennifer Newman, who posted a heartbreaking tribute to Imahara on social media along with a series of photos of the happy couple.
"I haven't found the words. I don't know if I'll be able to. I lost a part of my heart and soul today," Newman shared on Twitter.
"He was so generous and kind, so endlessly sweet and so loved by his incredible friends. I feel so lucky to have known him, to have loved and been loved by him.
"I love you, honey."
Fellow MythBusters hosts Kari Byron and Tory Belleci have also been rocked by their friend's passing, with Byron sharing a poignant photo of the trio on Twitter today with the caption: "Some days I wish I had a time machine".
Before landing his role in front of the camera, he worked behind the scenes on a string of hit films including The Matrix, Star Wars and Jurassic Park flicks.
Grant Imahara's death is the latest in a string of sad events for the Mythbusters cast. Photo / Getty Images
Imahara's death is eerily close to the anniversary of another cast member's passing.
On August 27, 2019, race-car driver Jessi Combs was killed in a crash in the US while attempting to break her own land-speed record.
Combs, 36, was driving her jet-powered car through the Alvord Desert in Oregon when she lost control of the vehicle, Road and Track reported.
Her teammate and partner, Terry Madden, confirmed her death in an Instagram post.
"Unfortunately we lost her yesterday in a horrific accident, I was the first one there and trust me we did everything humanly possible to save her," he wrote.
Combs appeared on 12 episodes of Mythbusters during Season 7 while regular cast member Kari Byron was on maternity leave.
She was named the "fastest woman on four wheels" after she set a record with a speed of 640km piloting her jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger, according to Road and Track.
Erik Gates, a contributor to the show, died in 2009, aged 47.
Gates was working as a contractor on the roof of an office building when he fell through a skylight to his death.
An autopsy ruled that he died from blunt force chest injuries, with a coroner's investigation ruling the death an accident.
Adam Savage was recently accused of sexually assaulting his sister. Photo / Getty Images
Earlier this month, the programme made headlines after disturbing allegations against host Adam Savage emerged.
In a lawsuit filed in early July, Savage's younger sister Miranda Pacchiana, 51, claimed she was sexually assaulted by Savage.
She claimed her brother called himself the "raping blob" during the late 1970s, when she was between seven and 10 years old when the siblings lived in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
He allegedly nicknamed himself the "raping blob" while masking the abuse as a game, according to the complaint.
The 52-year-old special effects whiz is best known as the former co-host of Mythbusters.
Pacchiana filed her lawsuit under the New York Child Victims Act, which opened a one-year look-back period for victims to bring claims that had already exceeded the statute of limitations. In May, the original deadline, which was set in August, was extended by five months due to coronavirus.
Savage denied his sister's allegations in a statement through his lawyer Andrew Brettler.
Over the years, many of the programme's experiments have gone slightly awry. Sometimes, things fail in more spectacular and newsworthy ways — landing the cast and crew in hot water.
On March 20, 2009, during the filming of the myth "Knock Your Socks Off" the town of Esparto, California, was shaken a by a blast created by 230kg of ammonium nitrate, with unsuspecting residents left furious after their windows were smashed.
As it transpired, Chief Barry Burns of the Esparto Fire Department had made the decision not to notify anyone in town to avoid having a crowd of spectators at the unsafe site.
"MythBusters is supposed to be a really popular show. Everybody would have been out there. We would have had to cancel it because it would have been too dangerous," he said.
The experiment did air, but the hosts later revealed that they have never returned to Esparto as a result.
Two years later, while conducting the "Cannonball Chemistry" experiment, the MythBusters crew accidentally sent a rogue cannonball through the side of a house and into a mini-van in a Dublin, California neighbourhood.
The errant projectile went over its intended target and soared 640m into a neighbouring community, striking a house and leaving a 25 cm hole, before hitting the roof of another house and smashing through a window of a parked mini-van. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Savage and Hyneman later visited homeowners to apologise.
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