John Amos Reportedly Requested Delay in Death Announcement to Avoid Daughter Turning It ‘into a Circus’

Days after Good Times star John Amos’ family announced that they wanted to look into the circumstances surrounding his passing, the actor’s longtime publicist wants to set the record straight.

On Oct. 2, the late actor’s “collective family and close friends,” including his daughter Shannon Amos and goddaughter Amy Goudy, issued a statement on Facebook about his death and called out his son Kelly Christopher “K.C.” Amos for his alleged treatment of his father in his final days. They also claimed K.C. failed to notify the rest of the family about John’s death, which they felt was suspicious.

Shortly after the message made headlines, Belinda Foster, John’s longtime publicist, who was also named in Goudy’s statement, refuted those claims in an exclusive statement shared with PEOPLE.

“I represented John Amos for over 30 years as his publicist of record,” Foster said. “The media knows this along with John’s agencies of record. Over the years we grew close to one another to the point of a familial relationship. In the last few years, he often referred to me as his ‘daughter.’ This was not a fraud by John, K.C., or myself. He was like a father to me. I deeply mourn his passing.”

“Shannon’s claims that John was abused are false,” Foster continued. “K.C., Eugene and I, along with numerous others cared for him. On several occasions when Shannon claimed that he was abused, law enforcement authorities sat with John and confirmed his well being.”

In the statement posted to Facebook on Wednesday by John’s goddaughter Amy Goudy on behalf of herself, Shannon and others with a connection to the actor, they said they viewed “the circumstances surrounding our father’s passing” with “profound sadness and distress.”

“He was a loving man who brought light into the lives of many. However, our family only learned of his death today through media reports, only to discover he actually passed away 45 days ago,” the statement alleged. They also claimed that they were “not notified” and the tragic news of his death has left them “in shock and heartache.”

Without a death certificate in their possession, they claimed they didn’t know “where or why he died” but were aware he was “suffering from congestive heart failure and dementia.” They said they “fear he was likely cremated to avoid any potential investigation into the conditions surrounding his final days.”

In Foster’s statement, she addressed the claims that K.C. failed to notify the family about his death, saying, “At the time of John’s passing, K.C. was under a strict no-contact order from the Superior Court of New Jersey based on the Complaint that his sister Shannon brought against him in 2023.”

“As a condition of his Pretrial Release, K.C. is precluded from making any contact with Shannon directly or indirectly by phone, social media, or any method of communication,” she explained. “At the time of his death, John was concerned that Shannon might turn his death and interment into a circus as she had done with other aspects of his life.”

“It was John who requested the delay in announcing his death to Shannon and the rest of the world,” Foster added.

Foster states while she plans on continuing to “represent my clients with enthusiasm and skill” as a “professional publicist,” she feels “sorry that Shannon has chosen this path, but consistent with John’s approach, I will respond to her with firmness but compassion.”

“John loved Shannon but she was a difficult child to the point that John had to order that an unauthorized ‘GoFundMe’ page that she put up in June 2023 be shut down,” she said. “For those concerned with John’s state of mind, I should note that John had interviews with PEOPLE Magazine, Variety Magazine, Hollywood Reporter, and acted in SUITS LA all recently in 2024. Medical authorities have interviewed him in the last year and found him to be mentally sound.”

Foster concluded, “For the sake of preserving John’s well-earned reputation as a superb actor and a community activist, we hope we can put to rest these nonsensical claims that Shannon is offering out of her own pain as a result of estrangement from her father.”

PEOPLE has reached out to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department, who said there “are no updates or statements” in regards to reopening John’s elder abuse case at this time.

via: People

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