As The Ashley previously reported, Matt was found dead May 30 following a search of a Washington river by locals, friends and brother Noah Brown. Matt, who was the eldest son of Ami and Billy Brown, reportedly took his own life a few days earlier, sparking the search where the tragic event took place. Matt was 42 years old.
Earlier this week, Matt’s brother Bear posted a video to TikTok in which he explained to fans that he decided to share a link for Matt’s Empathy Funding page, despite initially intending to pay for Matt’s cremation himself.
“ … I ended up having to pay some medical stuff for one of my kids out of pocket and medical stuff is darn expensive,” Bear explained. “Also, some of my friends and everybody here on TikTok was telling me that I didn’t have to carry the burden by myself. If y’all guys wanna contribute, I have the link in my bio, but please don’t push yourself.
“We’re about halfway to the goal, in total it was $3,000 … just so all y’all guys know, all the [proceeds] go directly to the funeral home, my family never sees it,” he continued. “It goes directly to the funeral home and as soon as the goal is met, the link is cut off automatically. It’s all handled by the funeral home itself.”
(While Bear claimed that the link for Matt’s Empathy Funding page would be “cut off” once the fundraising goal was met, it appears that donations can still be made, despite the fundraising goal having exceeded the $3,095 goal.)
Bear went on to tell followers that he will be heading to Washington later this week and is “shooting for Matt’s funeral to be on the third [of July].” He also noted that without the donated funds, his family is “not able to cremate” Matt, and that he wants to “make sure that [Matt’s] final wishes are respected.”
“His whole life, he always talked about a Viking burial and I’m doing my best to make that happen, [or] as close to a Viking burial as I can,” Bear said.
Bear went on to acknowledge in his TikTok that he was probably “gonna get a lot of flak for this video,” but told followers he didn’t care. While his video did garner quite a lot of criticism (and questions) in the comments, Bear reiterated in one of his replies that the fundraiser for Matt is being handled by the funeral home– River Valley Funeral & Cremation in Okanogan, Washington– and that he “didn’t have anything to [do] with setting it up.”
“ … I just posted the link,” Bear wrote.
As for the comments asking Bear “what happened to the millions of dollars” his family presumably made from their Discovery Channel reality series, Bear insisted that the Brown Family “didn’t make that much,” but did not provide any additional details.
Bear also didn’t explain to fans why he appears to be the only member of the Brown Family handling Matt’s cremation and funeral plans; as of Tuesday, Noah is the only other sibling of Matt’s who has shared the link for the Empathy Funding page.
Matt’s obituary (which is posted in full on the funeral home’s fundraising page) mentions the former reality star’s battles with addiction– which he publicly struggled with for years– as well as mental illness.
“Matt lived a beautifully complex and impactful life, often speaking openly about his battles with mental illness and addiction, dedicating immense energy to breaking the stigma surrounding these diseases and helping others find the path to sobriety,” the obituary reads in part. “In doing so, he turned his private pain into a beacon for others, using his voice to urge those suffering in silence to seek help. His life was far too short for someone so special and so loved.”
The obituary goes on to state that funeral services for Matt will be held privately by the Brown Family. The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Matt’s name to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
You can watch Bear’s TikTok discussing the fundraising page below.
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