Autoerotic Asphyxiation Killed Andrew Embiricos, Gay Grandson Of Rita Hayworth

Somehow we missed this New York Observer profile on the late Andrew Embiricos, which explains that his cause of death was, as Michael Musto suspected, due to autoerotic asphyxiation.

Embiricos was the son of Princess Yasmin Aga Kahn—herself the daughter of ’40s screen siren Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan —and therefore a direct descendant of Persia’s esteemed Aga Khan line.

The 25-year-old heir’s death raised eyebrows because he was found face up with a plastic bag over his head and had a history of  kinky behavior—including a brief stint in 2007 as an XTube star (in such gems as Chelsea Bareback Whores).

The Observer reports that the NYPD still considers Andrew’s death a suicide, but friends and family maintain it was an accident:

“As far as the NYPD is concerned, there is no suspected criminality and it appears to be a suicide,” a police spokesperson told SCENE. But while the final cause of death has not been issued by the Medical Examiner’s office, pending further testing, Embiricos’ best friend Jake Dingler, who was present when the body was found, confirms to SCENE: “It wasn’t a suicide. The coroner explained to Andrew’s mother that it was autoerotic asphyxiation. And the cops came to my apartment and talked to me about it.”

The article also contains some interesting details about Embiricos’ life, like the fact that the wealthy heir worked at a tanning salon:

Before he re-enrolled at Fordham, Embiricos had lots of time on his hands, and made an unexpected move, taking a day job at a West Village tanning salon, where he worked for two-and-a-half-years. “The prince of Persia is working at Portofino,” laughs [close friend Chris] Tuttle, speaking of the hours Embiricos clocked behind the front desk. “He wanted to prove to people, perhaps even his mother that, ‘Yeah, I can go work an $8-an-hour job that I enjoy.’ He was great around people and he took pride in selling tanning packages and lotions.”

It concludes on a note that warns against trying autoerotic asphyxiation:

Is Embiricos’ accidental death in some sense a cautionary tale about the dangers of autoerotic asphyxiation, about facing one’s fears and anxieties rather than masking or mollifying them with extreme measures like AEA, or the other risky behaviors that preceded them earlier in his adult life? “Andrew wasn’t much into caution,” quips [his friend Chuck] Attix. “Other than the pain his XTube videos caused his family, I’d never heard him express any sort of regret for anything he’d done. He certainly wasn’t ashamed of anything he did. The way it was originally reported suggested that he intentionally killed himself and that somehow the events of the rest of his life lead him to do it and that was just not true. That’s what was frustrating to friends, to give that impression—like he gave up or something. That wasn’t his style.”

Adds [friend Will] Wikle: “He was a very compassionate and tender-hearted person. For all of his shock value and talk about sex, at his center he was a very sweet, caring person. I do think he would never want anybody to die [like this]. I’m certain that he did not intend to die.”

Don’t do AEA, kids. A mind-blowing orgasm can easily be had with a safe partner—or alone—and think of the pain and humiliation you’d cause your family and friends if it ended tragically. Andrew was just getting into the swing of his life—liking his new job, over the depression and wild-child years he’d just experienced. What a terrible time to lose him.