Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars has experienced many heartbreaking losses over the last several years.
But it’s shocking to learn that he was expecting one tragedy to occur—a loss that no parent should ever have to experience.
Rick’s 39-year-old son, Adam Harrison, had been living at a guesthouse in Las Vegas.
Rick Harrison’s Son, Adam, Found ‘Unresponsive’
In January 2024, another resident informed the landlord that Adam hadn’t been seen in two days.
The landlord investigated, and he made a tragic discovery.
Adam was found “unresponsive” on January 19th, and USA Today reported that he passed away sometime between January 17th and the day he was found due to a “toxicity” of illegal substances later found in his system.
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Medical authorities concluded that Adam had accidentally caused this fatal incident.
Initially, Rick’s representative, Laura Herlovich, delivered official statements to the media on behalf of the Harrison family.
Still, Rick made a brief announcement about Adam’s passing on his Instagram account, and his short but emotional message can bring tears to the eyes.
Rick posted a happy photo of him sitting with Adam in an unnamed restaurant.
Rick Said ‘You Will Always Be in My Heart! …’
He simply wrote, “You will always be in my heart! I love you, Adam,” and he included one broken heart emoji.
A few days later, Laura gave an exclusive statement to TMZ, but the message allegedly came from Rick.
He confirmed that Adam passed away because he had been misusing substances.
And he said that the substance crisis “in this country must be taken more seriously. It seems it is just flowing over the borders, and nothing is being done about it. We must do better.”
TMZ initially broke the story about how Adam passed away.
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They also reported that the Harrison family told them that they were “extremely saddened,” and they asked for privacy as they grieved the loss.
Adam Harrison and His Brother’s, Corey, Close Relationship
On January 25th, E! News reported personal details about Adam’s life and his relationship with his brother, Corey Harrison.
According to E! News, Adam was given the nickname “Wax” by the Harrison family, although the reason wasn’t provided.
The day before, Rick had shared old family photos of him and Adam on Instagram, including a sweet picture of Rick napping on a couch with young, blonde-haired Adam holding him close as they rested cheek-to-cheek.
Rick wrote another simple but heartbreaking message, “Amazing memories.”
Corey Said ‘I Will Always Love You, Bubba’
Corey also acknowledged the loss of his brother on January 20th.
He posted a photo of him and Adam as kids to his Instagram account, calling Adam “Wax” and adding, “I will always love you, bubba.”
On February 22nd, The New York Post exclusively confirmed that Rick had mourned “son Adam at a private funeral service.”
Still, they admitted that “no other details about Adam’s funeral are known.”
Adam’s ‘Heavily Redacted Incident Report’
But a previous report by the Post revealed Adam’s sad final months of life, including a three-month jail sentence before he moved into the Las Vegas guest house where he was later found.
The Post got this information from a “heavily redacted incident report” from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
That incident report provided shocking clues to the Post as to why Adam met such a tragic end.
The fellow resident who had been concerned about Adam also informed police that he’d been demonstrating “alarming behavior” before his passing, such as “barricading himself in the house by pushing furniture against the doors.”
Allegedly, Adam had a “history” of misusing substances.
Rick Harrison Confessed Adam’s Passing Did Not Surprise Him
Rick made a heartbreaking confession to Fox News in February 2024 that Adam’s passing did not surprise him.
He said that his son had battled addiction “for years,” and when he first heard the terrible news that Adam had passed away, Rick knew in his heart that it was because of an accidental OD.
Rick looked haggard in the interview with Fox News, especially when he admitted that Adam “had his problems for years, and the last six months was a really bad downward spiral.”
Rick added that he had been “dealing with this” for the last nineteen years of Adam’s life.
Rick Said ‘… I Was, Like, Crying My Eyes Out’
But even though he wasn’t shocked to learn why Adam had passed, the reality of being a father who lost his son was almost too much for Rick to bear.
He revealed to Fox News how “tough” it was during the week after he lost Adam.
Rick said, “I mean, if I wasn’t screaming at a wall, I was, like, crying my eyes out.”
Rick explained, “It’s my boy.”
He also described in detail how he and the Harrison family had desperately tried to get Adam off of substances, and he explained that he’d put Adam in “rehab multiple times.”
Shockingly, Rick admitted to terrible memories of “confrontations” with Adam over his life-threatening use of substances and why he felt that those illegal substances
Rick described it as if the “devil” had invented substances like the ones Adam was using.
He explained that these substances change people like Adam “into a different person.”
Rick Remembers Adam as ‘The Greatest Kid in the World’
But at least Rick got to smile and laugh at one point during his heartbreaking interview with Fox News.
And sweetly, he said that he would be remembering Adam forever as “the greatest kid in the world.”
During the interview, Rick pointed to a framed photo on the desk he was sitting at.
He told Fox News that it was a picture of younger Adam in his little league baseball uniform, and then he recalled a fond memory.
He said that Adam was ten years old in that picture.
And when Rick got the photos, he complained to Adam that he wasn’t “smiling in any of them.”
But Adam had a great excuse – at least for a ten-year-old kid!
Rick smiled and laughed as he remembered Adam telling him that he wasn’t smiling because he had his “game face” on.
Rick Harrison’s Family Scandal
But Rick wasn’t smiling when a family scandal erupted a couple of years ago.
Surprisingly, this drama blew up in Rick’s face after the heartbreaking loss of his dad, “Old Man” Richard Harrison, in 2018.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal published the strange report that Richard’s wife and Rick’s mom, JoAnne Harrison, was “seeking a restraining order against her son.”
JoAnne was 81 years old at the time, and before filing that “temporary restraining order” against Rick, she sued him over a “family trust, cash and silver, distributions from investments, and ownership shares of the famed Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.”
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Rick Harrison’s Mother’s Lawyer Threw Major Shade at Rick
The Review-Journal wrote that JoAnne’s lawyer threw major shade at Rick in her court filing and asked a judge to order Rick not to stop paying JoAnne “monthly distributions” of $25,000.
According to JoAnne’s lawyer, Rick was enjoying a “comfortable life as a celebrity firmly in control of all the family businesses and finances.”
Shockingly, the lawyer claimed that JoAnne was “frightened and unsure if she will have enough resources to pay for her considerable medical and personal expenses.”
The Review-Journal wrote that Rick’s “spokeswoman” had responded to them in an email, and Rick appeared to have an interesting defense.
In the email, Rick claimed that his mother was being “manipulated by others” who were “not looking out for her best interests.”
He insisted that he had “tried to reach JoAnne numerous times over the last several months,” but Rick said he was “unable to do so.”
It’s strange that this family scandal has yet to be resolved.
And sadly, Rick has not confirmed whether he and his mom have settled this dispute and mended their relationship.
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Rick Harrison’s Broken Marriages
What’s equally heartbreaking is Rick’s string of broken marriages: Rick has already been divorced three times in his life.
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The Daily Mail reported how Rick’s third marriage ended.
After seven years of marriage, he filed for divorce from Deanna Burditt.
According to the divorce documents, Rick claimed that he and Deanna began thinking too “differently” to make their relationship work.
TMZ reported the shocking news that Rick and Deanna had gotten divorced a year before the public even knew about it, describing the divorce as “hush-hush.”
They added that “Deanna initially responded to the divorce filing by asking for alimony,” but they later reached a “settlement agreement” for “all issues like alimony, support, and property division.”
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Sadly, Rick didn’t get one thing out of his divorce from Deanna.
After they married in 2013, he told TMZ how happy he was to become a stepdad to her “3 great daughters.”
But since they’re now divorced, it must be like Rick lost three other kids besides his beloved son, Adam.
