{"id":1654,"date":"2026-07-22T19:14:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=1654"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:14:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:14:59","slug":"godzilla-vs-king-kong-actor-and-rising-star-dies-aged-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=1654","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGodzilla vs. King Kong\u201d actor and rising star dies aged 18"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Credit
Credit \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The entertainment world is mourning the tragic loss of rising actress Kaylee Hottle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hottle, who rose to fame after her performance as Jia in\u00a0Godzilla vs. Kong<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire<\/em>,\u00a0has died at the age\u00a0of 18 following a car crash in Maryland.<\/p>\n

Authorities say she was a passenger in a vehicle that left the roadway and struck a culvert in the early hours of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

She was transported to a nearby trauma centre but sadly could not be saved. Police believe speed may have been a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation.<\/p>\n

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Born into a multigenerational Deaf family, Hottle was a native user of American Sign Language (ASL) and became a trailblazer for Deaf representation in Hollywood. She made her feature film debut in 2021 as Jia, the young deaf girl who forms an extraordinary bond with Kong, before reprising the role in the 2024 sequel.<\/p>\n

Her performance earned widespread praise, and she later received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Younger Performer. Away from the big screen, she also appeared in an episode of\u00a0Magnum P.I.<\/em>\u00a0and inspired countless young deaf people who saw themselves represented in mainstream cinema.<\/p>\n

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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA \u2013 MARCH 25: Kaylee Hottle attends the Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures world premiere of \u201cGodzilla X Kong: The New Empire\u201d at TCL Chinese Theatre on March 25, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The heartbreaking news of her passing was confirmed by Hottle\u2019s father, Joshua, in an emotional video shared in American Sign Language.<\/p>\n

The Texas School for the Deaf, where Hottle was a student, also paid tribute, describing her passing as a devastating loss for everyone who knew and loved her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Credit \/ Getty Images The entertainment world is mourning the tragic loss of rising actress Kaylee Hottle. Hottle, who rose to fame after her performance as Jia in\u00a0Godzilla vs. Kong\u00a0and\u00a0Godzilla … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-1654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trending","tag-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1655,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions\/1655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}