Former Disney Executive Dave Hollis Died at 47
Updated April 25 2023, 12:08 p.m. ET
The man responsible for bringing some of the best Disney movies of the last decade to a theater near you, Dave Hollis, passed away on Feb. 11, 2023. Dave was 47 when he passed, and only days away from his birthday.
While Dave is not a name that we may recognize, his impact has definitely been felt. As president of worldwide distribution at Disney between 2011 and 2018, Dave oversaw and helped films such as Black Panther, Moana, and multiple Star Wars features reach mass levels of success.
What was Dave's cause of death? Here's what we know.
What was Dave Hollis’s cause of death?
On April 24, 2023, it was reported that Dave Hollis's cause of death was an accidental overdose. Per the autopsy report, which was obtained by People, Dave "had lethal amounts of cocaine, fentanyl, and alcohol in his system when he died."
The Travis County Medical Examiner's Office also noted that Dave had a "history of drug and alcohol abuse," along with high blood pressure, depression, and "hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which leads to the 'narrowing and hardening of vessels that supply blood to the heart.'"
He also had an "underlying natural disease of the heart that would have predisposed it to developing an abnormal rhythm, particularly in the presence of a stimulant drug such as cocaine."
Dave is survived by his ex-wife, author Rachel Hollis, and their children.
In addition to being a top executive at Disney, Dave became known on social media for his then marriage to popular influencer-turned-author Rachel Hollis, who wrote the New York Times bestseller Girl, Wash Your Face.
Dave and Rachel relocated from Los Angeles to Austin, where Dave helped to run Rachel's company, Chic Media, rebranded now as The Hollis Company. Dave and Rachel even had a popular podcast, Rise Together, where they talked about their married life.
With the pair's work so intertwined, it became a shock to everyone when Rachel and Dave announced their divorce.
Rachel took to her Instagram in the summer of 2020 to announce the news:
"Guys, I have some hard news to share ... Dave and I have made the incredibly difficult decision to end our marriage. We started out as best friends 18 years ago and the truth is, that core friendship and the parts of us that work so well, have become a band-aid for the parts of us that don’t. ... We remain dear friends as we raise our family as co-parents and run our company as partners."
Rachel and Dave had four kids together.
Rachel and Dave remained in each other's lives co-parenting their four children: Ford, Jackson, Sawyer, and Noah.
Dave touched on celebrating holidays while divorced in an Instagram post: "Divorce is wild. Holidays in divorce are wilder. We veer from our every-other-week schedule to give two weeks before and after Christmas to us each to travel and see family and all the rest. Rae’s up first, I’m up second. It means today’s the last day I’ll see this crew until the day after Christmas."
Being that the pair remained close until the end, Rachel made a short post on Instagram following the news of Dave's death. The post reads, "We are devastated. I have no words and my heart is too broken to find them. Please wrap the kids up in prayers as we try and navigate the unthinkable."
To the whole Hollis family, we are so incredibly sorry for your loss.