REST IN PEACE

Death Of Porn Actor Wilfried Knight Confirmed. Committed Suicide Two Weeks After Husband’s Death

wilfried knightMichael Mew, a close friend of porn star Wilfried Knight, has confirmed in a statement that Knight died on March 5 in an apparent suicide.

Mew wrote:

It is with heavy heart that I announce the passing of Wilfried Knight on Tuesday, March 5th, 2013.

The last thing he would want is everyone to think he was a porn-star cliché. He was not: He was not a drug or steroid abuser, and he did not drink like crazy.

He was a funny man with a kitschy sense of humour, who was more at home in the outdoors; on a mountaintop or volcano with his trusty pitbull he affectionately called Pig Daughter.

If you did see him at a bar or club, he was usually off on the side somewhere drinking a dry glass of white wine with his husband, Jerry.

As many of you do not know, Wilfried’s husband, Jerry Enriquez, took his own life less then two weeks before Wilfried did. Wilfried decided to follow him; taking his own life in the same hotel where they were legally married in up in Vancouver, Canada.

Jerry was an American citizen and Wilfried was a French national. Despite the challenges of being in a multi-national relationship, they tried very hard to make it work and stay together. Wilfried even enrolled into acupuncture school in Portland so that they can stay together. With his schooling and attached visa coming to a close end, Jerry desperately looked for work in Vancouver, Canada. They would have preferred to stay Portland but due to American immigration laws their Canadian marriage was not recognized and Wilfried would have to leave the U.S.

Jerry was so happy when he landed a job at Lululemon as the manager their IVIVA clothing line. Since Wilfried and Jerry were legally married in Canada, Wilfried was given a spouse visa and they both happily moved up to Vancouver.

They both were very private people in a lot of ways. After about a year, Jerry was let go by Lululemon. Wilfried told me about the questionable treatment Jerry received from Lululemon of which he wrote on his blog. Without a job or work visa in Canada, Jerry and Wilfried would not be able to stay in Canada and they could not return to the U.S. together.

After about five months not being able to find a new job, Jerry took his own life on February 21, 2013.

Death can come suddenly and people forget to take care of final matters. There was no will. Anything that Wilfried and Jerry had build together, including their home in Portland, now went to Jerry’s family. Their relationship was never formally recognized by the U.S. government, even though they were legally married in Canada and had over eight years of memories and photos together.

Up to the end, he expressed how he wished that no couple would have to endure what he and Jerry had to in trying to stay together.  They would both be alive today if America had gay marriage.

They will be missed.

We reached out to Lucas Entertainment, where Knight filmed more than 20 movies.  “I was hoping it was a hoax,” Lucas director Marc MacNamara told us. “I loved Wilfried dearly. There are some people who you just completely connect with and we had a beautiful bond. We kept in contact over the years as he had such a grounded perspective of life. He was so incredibly caring and genuine and we, as an industry and as a community are all at a great loss without Wilfried’s presence.”

MacNamara told us that many performers have taken Knight’s passing particularly hard, and he hopes they remember to stay strong.

Our condolences to Knight’s friends and loved ones.

Share your thoughts in the comments section below, but remember a fellow human being has died. Please keep your comments respectful.

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