On the latest episode of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, blogger Jason Lee opened up about his traumatic childhood and even tried to confront some of the issues he has with his family. It all went down while planning a memorial for his late older brother, Rodney Townsend.
Jason explained that his brother Rodney was “in the streets” and that his life was tragically cut short due to gun violence. That has left a huge hole in Jason’s life because to him, Rodney was not just his big brother to Jason. He was also a father figure.
Rodney Townsend was only 27 years old when he was killed on Saturday, March 1, 1997, at the El Dorado Bowl in Stockton, California. After a life of gang banging and doing all the wrong things, he was finally getting his life together, his mother, Evelyn Townsend, told Recordnet after his death.
Jason Lee’s brother Rodney was shot in the face after police say he stood in the way of a bullet that was meant for someone else. He left behind a wife, Tanya, and two daughters, Simone and Mytae.
Those close to Rodney Townsend talk about how he was working hard to turn his life around. Rodney had been working construction and also had plans to enroll in college classes at his local San Joaquin Delta College.
It was Rodney’s death that Jason Lee blames for further fracturing his family. On the latest episode of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, he explained that he has 10 siblings and that he shares a father with most of them. It was during that episode where Jason tried to confront his father, whom he holds a great amount of resentment for, but his dad didn’t show up to talk it out and didn’t show up to Rodney’s memorial either.
In fact, only three of Jason Lee’s siblings showed up to the cemetery to pay their respects to their brother Rodney. It seems that Jason’s attempt to bring his family back together may have proved exactly why he distanced himself in the first place.
The three brothers and a sister that did show up to Rodney Townsend’s gravesite in Stockton, Calfornia did a great job of showing their brother just how much they still love him.
Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood airs Mondays at 8/7c on VH1.