Who was Charlbi Dean, Triangle of Sadness’ star who died ‘mysteriously’ in 2022? The South African actress passed away before the Oscar-nominated film’s release, but her name was left out the memoriam

Mar 15 , 2023

Charlbi Dean was a South African actress and model who had her breakout role in Triangle of Sadness. Photo: @charlbi143/Instagram

Triangle of Sadness landed 3 nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including best picture, after the Cannes Film Festival – so fans were surprised when Charlbi Dean was left out of the ‘In Memoriam’

The South African rising star was just 32 and at the beginning of her career when she died in New York last August; she also starred in The CW’s Black Lightning

Charlbi Dean’s 2022 film Triangle of Sadness may have clocked three nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including best picture, but the star herself was left out of the “In Memoriam” segment that aired at the awards.

Charlbi Dean Kriek arrives at the premiere of Finch in November 2021, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. Photo: AP

The South African model and actress died suddenly in New York in August 2022, and her mystery death resulted in a slew of conspiracy theories. Despite the massive success of Triangle of Sadness, and her breakout role in the flick, her contribution to Hollywood and film was seemingly forgotten on awards night.

So, who is the actress everyone is talking about? Here’s what you need to know about Charlbi Dean and the legacy she left behind …

Charlbi Dean’s mystery death

Charlbi Dean died last year at just 32. Photo: @charlbi143/Instagram

Last August, it was announced that the actress, 32, had died very suddenly while in New York. At the time, plenty of questions about the circumstances surrounding her death emerged as the exact details were not revealed. TikTok videos claiming her death was related to taking a Covid-19 vaccine went viral, eventually prompting her brother Alex Jacobs to deny the speculations in an interview with Rolling Stone.

People reports that four months after her death, in December 2022, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed she had died of bacterial sepsis. The publication reports the sepsis was a “complication from asplenia [the absence of a spleen]” due to “remote blunt trauma to her torso”. Her death was ruled as an accident.

Charlbi Dean had just kicked off her career before her tragic and sudden death. Photo: @charlbi143/Instagram

Her full autopsy was not released, however, leading to even more speculation from her fan base. In his interview with Rolling Stone, Jacobs said after experiencing “minor symptoms”, his sister asked her fiancé Luke Volker to take her to the emergency room. She died hours later. Jacobs added that fan speculation around her death was “naive”.