An actor named John Amos wanted his family to be told of his death later than planned. This was his last wish

Shannon, Amos’s daughter, recently talked about how she found out about her dad’s death on social media.

The news of John Amos’s death came out earlier this week and shocked a lot of his fans, coworkers, and even his own family. People who knew the actor well are talking about how he died while also honoring his life and work.

The actor’s “collective family and close friends,” which included his daughter Shannon Amos and goddaughter Amy Goudy, said on Facebook on Oct. 2 that they didn’t fully understand how he died. The statement criticized his son Kelly Christopher “K.C.” Amos for how he was said to have treated his father in his last days and said Shannon and other people had to find out about his death 45 days later on social media.

A longtime publicist for John, Belinda Foster, was also named in Goudy’s statement. On Oct. 3, Foster gave a full statement to PEOPLE that gave a different view of how things turned out. She says that her client’s last wish was for Shannon not to tell anyone about his death right away because, among other things, he didn’t want Shannon to “turn his death and interment into a circus.”

Foster said, “I worked as John Amos’ lead publicist for more than 30 years.” “This is known by the media and John’s record agencies.” We became so close to each other over the years that it felt like family. He has called me his “daughter” a lot these last few years. John, K.C., and I did not lie about this. I thought of him as a father. I’m very sad about his death.

Foster went on, “Shannon’s claims that John was abused are false.” “K.C., Eugene, and I, along with many others, took care of him.” Law enforcement officials sat down with John and made sure he was okay several times when Shannon said he was abused.

In addition, Goudy’s statement said that K.C., Eugene Brummet, and Foster “isolated the actor from his loved ones despite their repeated attempts to stay in touch.” But Foster says in her statement that K.C. didn’t reach out because it was against the law to do so.

It was because of the Complaint that John’s sister Shannon filed against him in 2023 that K.C. was under a tight no-contact order from the Superior Court of New Jersey at the time of his death, she said. According to the terms of his pre-trial release, K.C. is not allowed to talk to Shannon in any way, including by phone, social media, or any other way.

Foster also said that the star from “Good Times” asked that his family not be told of his death right away as one of his last wishes. The statement says he did this to stop Shannon from making the death news into a “circus,” which is something she has done before with other events.

“John was afraid that Shannon would make his death and burial into a circus, like she had done with other parts of his life, when he died.” “John asked that Shannon and the rest of the world not be told about his death right away,” Foster said.

Foster ended by saying, “We hope we can put an end to these ridiculous claims that Shannon is making out of her own pain because she is estranged from her father in order to protect John’s well-earned reputation as a great actor and community activist.”