Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong has released a statement, via her rep, regarding the suicide of her estranged husband Russell Armstrong.

“Taylor Armstrong is devasted by the tragic events that have unfolded,” her rep says in a statement. “She requests privacy at this time so that she may comfort her young daughter” – 5-year-old Kennedy.

The statement adds that Armstrong’s “thoughts and prayers” are also with Russell’s 11- and 13-year-old sons from previous relationships.

Russell was found dead in a friend’s Los Angeles home, according to police.

Taylor Armstrong, 40, had filed for divorce on July 15 from Russell, 47, citing physical and verbal abuse.

The whole thing is so sad!

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Oh my gosh! I am so sad right now! This news completely shocked me!

Russell Armstrong, the estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Taylor Armstrong, was found dead of an apparent suicide …sources tell TMZ.

Our sources say Armstrong hanged himself. He was found hanging in his bedroom on Mulholland Drive.

We’re told L.A. City Fire Department arrived at his home and pronounced him dead at 8:16 PM Monday. Sources say a roommate found Russell and called 911.

We’re told authorities have not found a suicide note.

Taylor filed for divorce last month, after she claimed Russell physically abused her. We’re told authorities informed her of Russell’s death last night.

He was 47 years old.

Shocked!!! His poor daughter.

TMZ

Even though the cause of death was not disclosed after Amy Winehouse’s autopsy, the coroner’s orders suggests the singer may have “died a violent or unnatural death.”

A formal inquest has been opened to investigate her death.

An inquest into Amy Winehouse’s death has been opened and adjourned until October 26, a London coroner said Monday, as a lengthy investigation into the singer’s death begins in Britain.

Sharon Duff, a coroner at St Pancras Coroner’s Court in North London, said that a “Section 20″ postmortem had been carried out on the body of the 27-year old singer, who died Saturday, but Duff did not disclose any of its findings.

In British postmortem cases where a sudden death is deemed not suspicious and the Coroner believes that no inquest is necessary, he or she can order a Section 19 Post Mortem under the terms of the 1988 Coroner’s Act in Britain.

A Section 20 postmortem, as Winehouse had, however, implies that the Coroner believes “there is reasonable cause to suspect that a person has died a violent or unnatural death or in any other way which would require an inquest,” according to guidelines. It suggests that the authorities are mounting a more lengthy and serious investigation into the circumstances around Winehouse’s death, although the Coroner also reported that at the scene had been investigated by police and “determined non-suspicious.”

At a brief two-minute hearing on Monday, Duff told St Pancras Coroner’s Court:

“I bring before you the death of Amy Jade Winehouse aged 27, born on the 14th September 1983 in London. She was a divorced woman living in Camden Square NW1. She was certified dead at her home by a paramedic and a doctor on July 23. She was a singer songwriter at the time of her death and was identified by her family here at St Pancras this morning. A section 20 post mortem has been carried out and histology and toxicology taken to determine the cause of death. The scene was investigated by police and determined non-suspicious.”

Assistant Deputy Coroner Suzanne Greenaway also said: “I’m formally opening this inquest. I’m issuing interim certificates to allow Miss Winehouse’s family to make arrangements for the funeral.”

I’ll keep you guys posted!

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I was away over the weekend, and came home to a bunch of texts that Amy Winehouse had passed away on Saturday. While I was shocked she had died, I wasn’t totally surprised, either. The troubled singer had given disastrous concerts recently, and has been in and out of rehab for months (if not years).

While her death is still officially unexplained, many are suspecting a drug overdose.

Winehouse’s mom, Janis, saw her daughter just a day before her death, and told the Daily Mirror that her dying “seemed only a matter of time.”

“She seemed out of it. But her passing so suddenly still hasn’t hit me,” she told the paper, saying that Amy told her that she loved her, and that she’d treasure those words forever.

The Mirror also takes accounts from unnamed friends who reveal that Winehouse was in the midst of a weeks-long drinking binge, and that, according to an MTV producer and others, she died of a bad ecstasy pill.

Meanwhile, according to the Daily Mail, British tabloid The People reports that Winehouse was seen buying cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and ketamine the night before her death; any tabloid report, of course, must be taken with a grain of salt.

Officially, as noted, police are treating the death as unexplained, and an autopsy will be performed on Sunday or Monday, according to conflicting reports.

Winehouse appeared wobbly in taking the stage on Wednesday, where she made a surprise performance at the iTunes Music Festival to support goddaughter Dionne Bromfield. She danced on stage, but did not sing, only whispering into the microphone the few times it was passed to her.

So sad!

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Peter Falk has died at age 83, reports KTLA in Los Angeles and Variety. The beloved “Columbo” star died at his home in Beverly Hills last night.

The actor had been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to his daughter, Catherine Falk.

In 2009, a judge established a conservatorship for the ailing actor after a court battle between Catherine and wife of more than 30 years, Shera Falk.

Falk won four Emmys for his starring role in “Columbo.”

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‘Jackass’ star Ryan Dunn was extremely intoxicated when he crashed his car early Monday morning. According to police, his blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit!

West Goshen Police Chief Michael Carroll told the Daily Local News … Dunn’s B.A.C. was .196 … nearly two-and-a-half times the legal limit in Pennsylvania, which is .08.

Carroll added, “No other substances were found in his blood other than the alcohol.”

As TMZ reported, Dunn and his passenger were killed when Dunn lost control of his Porsche, crashed in a wooded area and his car exploded in flames.

Police also report that at the time Dunn crashed his car, he was driving between 132 and 140 miles per hour!

The Chester County Coroner has revealed the causes of death in the cases of Jackass star Ryan Dunn and his passenger: blunt force trauma AND the car fire.

The Coroner’s Office just released the autopsy results for both men — who, we’re told, were each dead by the time officials arrived at the scene.

Based on the autopsy results, the crash was so violent, it seems it was impossible to determine if the two died from the impact of the crash itself or from the fire that resulted.

Officials say the toxicology results for both men — which would help determine the role alcohol played in the crash — will be released in 4 to 6 weeks.

TMZ previously reported, officials believe Dunn’s car veered off the highway and crashed in a wooded area Monday morning … before exploding in flames. Investigators believe speed may have been a factor in the crash.

R.I.P. Ryan. We miss you man…

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