On March 28, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Lisa Rinna publicly revealed some very sensitive information. On her and Harry Hamlin’s podcast, Let’s Not Talk About the Husband, Lisa shared the intimate details of her father’s death in 2016.
At 94, Frank’s “quality of life had diminished” to the point where he no longer wanted to live. Due to Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, “you’re permitted to check out when you want to check out,” Harry explained.
Even though Frank “was in pain” and “really unhappy” with his quality of life, Lisa had mixed feelings about his decision to die. “You want to support your loved ones,” she said. “You want to support what they want to do, but you’re going to watch your parent kill themselves.”
RHOBH alum Lisa Rinna revealed her dad’s assisted suicide death
Nevertheless, when Lisa realized that her dad “wanted it so badly” and her mom Lois, who has also since passed, “signed off on it,” she and her half-sister resigned themselves. They had no choice but to accept their dad’s decision to end his life.
In Oregon, the assisted suicide process takes three to six months. Her dad had to have two doctors sign off that he was terminally ill. Lisa added that the process took place in a “hospice situation” with a “death doula.”
“You can’t administer it to somebody,” continued, as Harry added, “It has to be a willful act on their part.”
“The pills were supposed to come on a Tuesday, so when they set their mind to this, they’re ready,” Lisa said. But the pills didn’t arrive until Thursday, “and my dad was so mad.”
Once the life-ending pills came, Lisa and her sister set the scene. They played Frank Sinatra music, who Harry recalled was a favorite of his father-in-law.
“It was like two o’clock in the afternoon,” Lisa remembered. “The light was coming in, there’s a lot of real beauty behind it. We were playing some beautiful … music. But then, you mix [the pills] in the orange juice. It tastes like sh*t. It’s sour. But he’s got to drink it down. So you hand it to him, and he drank it.”
RHOBH alum Lisa Rinna reveals the part “nobody tells you” about assisted suicide
A part of assisted suicide Lisa didn’t expect and “nobody tells you” was just how long it would take. “It doesn’t happen right away,” she said. “It took 45 minutes.”
Lisa described her father’s passing as “not anything gruesome,” as he just seemed to “fall asleep.” The death doula was ready to administer morphine if he seemed to be in any distress or pain.
The actress said the whole experience was “trippy” and “so surreal that … I didn’t feel like I was in my body.”
At the time of her father’s death, she was on RHOBH, so she never publicly mentioned his assisted suicide. “I think it was just too painful at the time,” she added.
Lisa starred on RHOBH for eight seasons, blaming fan backlash for her exit in 2023.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – DID YOU KNOW THAT LISA’S DAD CHOSE TO DIE WITH DIGNITY?
