Billionaire Oil Heir Jason Davis Dies Of Suspected Drug Overdose At 35
Feb. 18 2020, Updated 1:00 p.m. ET
Jason Davis, the oil heir who voiced Mikey Blumberg on Disney’s Recess, has died at age 35. While his cause of death has not yet been confirmed, a source told RadarOnline.com the troubled billionaire suffered a drug overdose.
Jason — nicknamed “Gummi Bear” — was reportedly found unresponsive in his Los Angeles home this weekend.
For years prior to his death, he struggled with addiction and even appeared on the fourth season of VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2010 to deal with his addiction to heroin, OxyContin and Xanax. On the reunion show, Jason admitted he relapsed twice, but was finally sober. Still, he was arrested in January 2011 for drug possession and was later charged with felony possession and being under the influence of narcotics.
In 2012, while Jason was living in a Los Angeles sober house, RadarOnline.com obtained an exclusive video of him shooting heroin into a vein in his foot.
“The video was taken on Tuesday night after a vein in his foot exploded and he was trying to wrap it up in a bandage,” an insider said. “His foot is black and blue and it’s disgusting. There was blood everywhere and Jason’s so out of it and lazy that the blood stains are still all over his room and on the sheets. He hasn’t cleaned any of it up.”
In July 2016, RadarOnline.com reported Jason hit rock bottom. At the time, he was photographed hanging out at a seedy Los Angeles motel with red marks on his arms and sores and bruises all over his body. He wore the same shorts, flip flops and sweatshirt for five days straight, according to an eyewitness, and was even kicked out of the motel with a group of people after allegedly leaving their room littered with hypodermic needles.
Jason was the grandson of late industrialist tycoon Marvin Davis and philanthropist Barbara Davis. Marvin made his fortune as chair of Davis Petroleum and as the owner of 20th Century Fox. He purchased the company in 1981 and sold it four years later to Rupert Murdoch, gaining more than $300 million in profit. Marvin also owned the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Monterrey, California.
Jason is survived by his mother, Nancy, wine grower father Nebil Zarif, brothers Brandon and Alexander, and two half-sisters, Isabella and Mariella Rickel, from his mom’s second marriage to Ken Rickel.
“I am so heartbroken to share the saddest news of my life that my son Jason Davis passed away this morning in Los Angeles. Jason had a true heart of gold with such a zest for life,” Nancy told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. “He was such a caring soul to everybody who ever knew him. He loved his friends and his family above all else. We ask for privacy as we take time to grieve this most devastating loss.”
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In his final months, Jason had reportedly been committed to the Cure Addiction Now charity that he co-founded. A source told RadarOnline.com that his alleged overdose came after he was left feeling upset over a recent breakup.
Jason starred in Roseanne, 7th Heaven, Rush Hour and Beverly Hills Ninja. He was working on a TV show titled The Two Jasons at the time of his death.
