MovieChat Forums > Dance Moms (2011) Discussion > Remember the "suicide" of Lily Kerschen?

Remember the "suicide" of Lily Kerschen?


http://realisticdancemoms.tumblr.com/post/152012237518/we-were-all-yellow-im-just-now-catching-up-on

They did a whole suicide prevention hotline dance for it and all that jazz, yeah well turns out it was NOT a suicide but an accident and Jeff Collins aka Satan incarnate never corrected his little "factual error", and I quote:

I’m just now catching up on the Lily Kerschen/Fox speculation. Her mother has made multiple comments on Kalani’s Instagram post in May regarding Lily’s death. She insists that Lily did not commit suicide and that all the hashtags about bullying were because Lily was passionate about ending bullying. She says she passed away in a tragic accident. Regardless of who the child is who is referenced in the promo for this coming week’s Dance Mom’s episode, this whole thing is incredibly exploitive and the promo was triggering. If all parties are consenting, I think covering the topic in an episode/dance is fine, but the sudden promo was very jarring. Also, it has only spurred immense speculation because we know nothing about this girl. I’m sure we will find out more in the episode, but I felt the promo was inappropriate. Given how popular the DM girls are on social media, people are going to go back and stalk their posts and try to piece things together. Yes, it is very curious that Lily passed away around the time the episode was filmed and had the connection to Kalani and Kira, however, it really isn’t our business and her mother persists that she passed away in an accident. This already very fresh wound has been reopened for this family due to all this speculation. As someone who has suffered from mental illness and knew two people well who committed suicide, I am very bothered already by how production has handled this in only a thirty second clip. I actually don’t have an issue with Abby doing a dance about this topic. Great routines can tackle this issue (i.e. Studio 19’s Hanging By A Thread by Madalyne Spang and Chloe Lukasiak). But the promo is very enticing and makes you want to stay tuned for this drama. I don’t understand why they had to do this because the idea of Jojo leaving is interesting and tempting enough to stay tuned. I’m just frustrated with production and also how people have reacted.


Wouldn't be the first time Jeff and the show Dance Moms lied to us.... Oh, and Kira never corrected this either, maybe out of fear of having to lose her fame goldmine.

For reference: This was in season 6, episode 28

And Abby should go to prison.

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For one, I fully expect the producers to be slimey enough to twist the truth of a girl's death to fit their dance theme for the week. I also expect them to say, if confronted, that yes it was a lie but they're doing a greater good by advocating suicide prevention.

But some parents also go in denial about their children's suicides. It's easier to cope by thinking it was some tragic accident. There's the inevitable "bad parent" shaming that comes once people find out, whereas families of kids who die accidentally get sympathy.

I don't know how Lily died but there's always speculation whenever someone is rushed to the hospital for an "accidental" overdose of pills.

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Actually she died in a car accident. And lying about a dead child that they did it to themselves is NOT the greater good.

And Abby should go to prison.

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Actually she died in a car accident. And lying about a dead child that they did it to themselves is NOT the greater good.

Prolly the disturbed child grabbed the wheel and slammed the car into traffic?

IT COULD STILL BE A SUICIDE!

And Abby should go to prison.

Well, yes....for tax fraud.
.

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So Kalani most likely knew the truth. Does that mean she's in on the lie, standing there at pyramid acting all sad while Abby preached about suicide prevention?

That's pretty messed up if that's the case.

One of these days someone will write a tell-all about how virtually nothing we saw on TV was reality.

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I actually had this run in with a good friend of hers in twitter and chances are that she did know.

And Abby should go to prison.

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Wow. That really IS messed up.

To be fair... as fair as I can be, because Kalani has always seemed the polar opposite of Kira.... it's possible she was bullied by everyone from Kira to the producers to Abby. Her contract (where she must abide by the storylines created by producers and cannot expose their shenanigans) may have been brought up.

She may have even said something anyway, but of course it would be edited out.

Or, I suppose there's also the possibility that Kalani simply wasn't hit hard enough by the death to care either way, and didn't mind going along with the "story".

I think suicide is one of those things that can be extremely difficult for young teenagers to truly grasp. They are in a period of life where they feel invincible; they have not felt the kind of pain that comes as you age and come to grips with mortality.

From my personal experiences, teenagers won't react much to suicide or death in general, unless the person who committed suicide was a loved one. It's a kind of a, "that's sad, that sucks, hmm what should I wear to my next audition?" type attitude.

(Not because they're trying to be jerks but because this concept of mortality just isn't something they get. You could tell in the graveyard episode that most of the girls were unaffected by the entire situation).

It takes a long time to "get" death.

We will never really know exactly what Kalani knew, how she felt, if she was acting, or whether she was bullied into it.

I am saddened that the producers would take the exploitation to this degree. For some reason, despite knowing all the terrible things they do, I'm always surprised when they hit a new low.

I guess I have been so stunned in the past, that my mind thinks "this can't get any worse, it just can't. These are still real people making this, they have to have SOME personal moral boundary they won't cross".

Nope. I'm always wrong when I think "they can't sink lower".

Regardless of who knew what, it's a terrible thing to do in general and a terrible thing to do, to that girls' family.

Ps: To the dude who keeps saying "Abby should go to prison"- of course she should! But for reasons that cannot be explained nor understood (I have read every single legal document and compared similar cases)... she has a judge who, at the last hearing, recommended probation.

And that was BEFORE Abby's team presented their evidence of her "innocence".

I really hate to say this, but I think the chances are always better when you have a judge you have things in common with. This situation seems like it is being dissected perfectly by the DA, but for some reason this judge is ruling based on emotion and not actual legality.

The entire reason the DA presented three similar cases, is because the law is supposed to apply to everyone. The judge is supposed to use the ruling in those cases to influence their own ruling and keep up a standard so everyone who breaks the same laws receives the same consequences- otherwise, the situation is clearly unfair.

You can't send three people to jail for doing the same thing or similar things Abby did, and then give Abby probation! Not morally, anyway.

(Honestly though, I wish we could make everyone who had a hand in this exploitative incident, spend at least 24 hours in jail. They certainly didn't deserve higher ratings and paychecks for it. But I guess that's the world we live in. The law does not equal justice- especially when you pick and choose how you feel like upholding it based on emotions.)

I never agreed with people who stated women can't be judges or presidents or CEO's because they're too emotional - but in Abby's case I can't think of a single reason, nor has the judge stated a single reason, as to why she is a super special snowflake.

Which leaves me to think, the ruling was based on rich woman to rich woman emotions. So I guess I must change my views enough to say, that SOME women are too controlled by their emotions to be in a position of power.

The first judge who dealt with Abby, as well as the DA, provided an amazing case against her. Especially once it was exposed she used minors to commit her crimes, there's no way she should get probation.

But I'm pretty sure she will. And I'm pissed as hell about it.

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