His co-host, Michaela Okland, confirmed the news on social media.
Mat George has died at age 26. The She Rates Dogs: The Podcast co-host was killed in the early morning hours of Saturday, July 17, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to CBS Los Angeles.
The LAPD told the outlet that a white BMW struck George, who was walking, and failed to stop after doing so. George was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, the LAPD told the outlet.
Michaela Okland, George's podcast co-host, additionally confirmed the news on Twitter.
"I would rather you guys here [sic] this from me than a news article. Mat was killed in a hit and run last night," Okland wrote on Saturday. "I don’t really have any other words right now. I wish I could contact everybody who knows him personally but the news is already out and I just can’t do it right now."
"Thank you to everybody who’s reached out, I’m really sorry but I probably won’t respond for awhile even if we are close," she added. "And thank you so much to everybody telling stories and sharing how he impacted you. Whenever you think of him in the future, please do talk about him."
Okland also shared a message on the She Rates Dogs Twitter account, revealing that she and George recorded one more episode of their podcast. Though the episode was initially scheduled to come out Tuesday, Okland said its release would likely be pushed.
"I know in years to come I’ll feel so lucky that there’s so many recordings of Mat’s laugh to revisit," the tweet read. "I am not ready to talk about everything, or to have to use past-tense to describe him."
"I think you all knew within 10 seconds of listening to him how vibrant, loving, accepting, and wonderful Mat George is," Okland continued. "This community made him so happy. Your words and support made him so happy. Thanks for talking about him."
On She Rates Dogs, George and Okland shared bad dating stories, discussed pop culture and gave relationship advice. George was beloved for his humor on the show, and for candidly sharing his experiences as a gay man.
In a 2020 interview with Shoutout Arizona, George opened up about what inspired him to step into the comedy world, after initially pursuing a career in medicine.
"Towards the end of my college days at Arizona State University I started to share my experiences as a gay man with different people I was close to. Their reactions made me realize that a lot of these stories were funny to others, which then gave me more confidence to start sharing them with even more people," he said. "Eventually I started to tweet about them on my personal twitter account and people loved them. I then began to fall into comedy twitter, and started tweeting about different memes, trends and other funny topics that allowed me to show my creative side."
"While this is all fun for me, I realized that I could actually make a difference with this. Growing up and being in the closet, I never knew anyone or heard about anyone who had similar experiences and fears that I had," he continued. "My hopes for my Twitter account and She Rates Dogs: The Podcast is to share my stories and make LGBTQ+ people all across the world feel like they’re not alone. The most rewarding moments are when members of the LGBTQ+ community reach out to me and tell me what a difference I’ve made in their lives."
Okland reiterated George's past comments in a tweet on She Rates Dogs' account.
"So many of the kind messages I’ve gotten note the fact that you all 'didn’t know mat in real life,' but everybody who supported him truly meant more than you realize. He’d send me screenshots of your sweet messages, he shed tears when people told him he had helped them through issues (especially LGBT+ related)," she wrote. "He referenced DMs from you all the time and how much it made his week & fueled his joy. You really did know him. He shared so much because he felt the people who listened to him were his friends."
Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to call the LAPD West Traffic Division at 213-473-0234 or Crime Stoppers at 800- 222-8477.
RELATED CONTENT:
