Dave Hollis, the former Disney distribution chief, passed away at the age of 47 on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at his home in Austin, Texas. He was recently hospitalized for heart-related health issues.

Rachel Hollis, Dave’s ex-wife, addressed Dave’s untimely death in an Instagram post of a black square with white words. The caption read: “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 through the unthinkable.”

Who is Rachel Hollis?

Rachel Hollis is an American author, motivational speaker, and blogger. She was born on January 9, 1983. After graduating from high school, she moved to Los Angeles, California, and got a job at Miramax. While working there, she met her future husband and founded an event-planning company called Chic Events.

She is the author of three self-help books, including Girl, Wash Your Face, and Girl, Stop Apologizing. In 2021, she faced backlash after posting a controversial TikTok video.

After 16 years of marriage, in June 2020, Rachel shared a lengthy post announcing that she and Dave had decided to divorce. She wrote: “We have worked endlessly over the last three years to make this work and have come to the conclusion that it is healthier and more respectful for us to choose this as the end of our journey as a married couple. I’ll be honest, the last month has been one of the most awful of our lives. I want to be strong and bold and optimistic for you now, but every ounce of my energy is reserved for being those things for my children,” the lifestyle influencer said.

She added that the both of them “remain dear friends” and would continue to co-parent and run their shared company as partners. In the following month, Dave also took to Instagram to give his side of the story. That post has since been deleted. Dave claimed that Rachel had initiated the divorce with him, two days after their 16th wedding anniversary.

Till then Hollis’ had renewed their vows every five years.

His post, which was a photo from their 16th anniversary, detailed that he had posted the image back in May but removed it two days later. “Rae told [him] she didn’t want to be married anymore. That [he] could only become the man and she the woman [they] were each truly meant to be… apart. So that post with memories we’d made left me embarrassed for a vision of a future that wasn’t shared,” Dave said.