Model Sahara Ray, Justin Bieber's ex, dies months after welcoming baby girl

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Model Sahara Ray, who previously dated Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson, has died. She was 34.

The swimsuit designer and model “passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital,” Ray’s family said in a statement to TMZ on Monday. “She was so loved.”

Her cause of death was not confirmed.

‘A force of nature’

Ray’s younger sister, Ruby Ray, honoured her older sister and shared photos of the pair throughout the years.

“The most vivacious, intelligent, hilarious, kind, empathetic and breathtakingly beautiful soul. A force of nature. A light so bright that this world feels impossibly dimmer without her in it,” she wrote in an emotional Instagram post.

“Sahara has moved from this life into another, and I am left trying to comprehend how someone so full of life can no longer be here to live it.”

She went on to call Sahara “everything extraordinary about being human” and “the most incredible person to ever walk this earth.”

Ruby added: “I want more time. More laughter. More conversations. More of her. If love alone could have kept you here, Sahara, you would have lived a thousand lifetimes. I will spend the rest of mine loving you.

Influencer Sabrina Zada also penned a tribute to her friend on Instagram, describing the model as “bigger than the whole sky,” while sharing her confusion and grief.

“Still will always be. I don’t know what to do anymore. None of this makes sense without you,” Zada wrote. “Selfishly I just assumed you’d be here because why wouldn’t somebody as beautiful, kind, funny, and interesting as you be here anymore.”

Guillain-Barré syndrome diagnosis

Ray’s modelling career took off in the mid-2010s. She built a huge following on social media and launched her own swimwear brand, Sahara Ray Swim, in 2014.

She was romantically linked to Australian singer Cody Simpson in 2015, and Justin Bieber the following year, though she never confirmed either relationship.

Ray revealed in 2024 her battle with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder in which the body’s own immune system attacks the peripheral nerves, and detailed that she was left partially paralyzed after a serious car accident.

“I honestly don’t even know how to start this video, I’m so overwhelmed with what’s going on with me,” Ray said in a TikTok at the time.

“I have an autoimmune disease that I got a few weeks ago,” she explained. “It is an autoimmune disease that attacks my nerves and my feet and my legs are affected. The tips of my fingers are numb as well.”

She continued: “So basically, right now I’m paralyzed from the tops of my upper thighs all the way down to my feet. I can’t walk at all,” adding that she was “primarily in a wheelchair” and could “barely walk” with a walker after being hit by a drunk driver in April 2024.

“This has been really hard to deal with,” she said. “I’ve been trying to keep a good attitude and be hopeful that my feeling comes back but there’s always a chance it stays like this.”

Meant to be

In January, Ray became a mom and her Instagram feed, once mainly of sexy swimsuit shots, was soon filled with the model documenting her pregnancy and showing off her little girl.

Ray’s final Instagram post was in July, with the model sharing sweet snaps of her daughter, Snow, who she welcomed this past January.

“My whole heart,” Ray wrote. “Baby Snow.”

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