Jewelry designer Lynn Ban, who starred in the Netflix reality series “Bling Empire: New York,” died weeks after she underwent emergency brain surgery due to a skiing accident, her son announced Wednesday.
“She always had a smile on her face even when times were tough during her recovery process,” her son, Sebastian, wrote on Instagram. “She was a fighter until the end and is the strongest woman I know.”
Ban shared last month that she was in Aspen on vacation with her family when she had a fall while skiing on Christmas Eve. She was initially cleared by ski patrol, but wrote on social media that she began to feel a headache later that day.
A paramedic suggested she get a CAT scan, which discovered she had sustained a brain bleed.
Her son did not disclose the cause of death, but said she died Monday and wanted fans to know. The post announcing her death included a series of photos of the Ban family with a moving tribute written by Ban’s son.
“As a final message to my mum, I would just like to say that I will miss you forever and to end in something she always told me ‘I love you more than life itself’ mum,” he wrote.
“Bling Empire: New York” was a spinoff of the popular Netflix reality series “Bling Empire,” which followed a group of wealthy Asian American socialites living in Los Angeles.
The spinoff maintained the same premise, but for those living in New York City.
Dorothy Wang, another “Bling Empire: New York” star, wrote a comment saying that Ban lit up every time she spoke of her son.
“Yes she loved her fashion and her looks, but what truly mattered most to her was always you and your father, her tribe,” Wang said. “We are all heartbroken.”
Ban, who was born in Singapore, had a private jewelry label called Lynn Ban Jewelry that catered to a host of celebrities, including Rihanna and Lady Gaga, according to her website. Beyoncé wore some of Ban’s designs in the singer’s 2018 Vogue photoshoot for the magazine’s famed September issue.
Rihanna also mourned Ban, saying in the comments of the Instagram post that she was in disbelief.
“This is too much!!!” Rihanna wrote from her verified account. “Lynn you will always be our fairy godmother! Love you forever and always!”
Drena De Niro, the adoptive daughter of actor Robert De Niro, sent her condolences to both Ban’s son and husband. She wrote that she “absolutely adored” Ban.
“She was a wonderful, wildly talented, generous, warm and beautiful person both inside and out,” De Niro wrote. “My son Leo LOVED her and her jewelry.”
Her business partner, Jett Kain, was also her husband. She shared an Instagram post in August celebrating 30 years with Kain, who she joked was her “favorite photographer.”
