Deaf Actress Kaylee Hottle Dies in Maryland Car Crash

Kaylee Hottle, an 18-year-old deaf actress best known for her role in the "Godzilla vs. Kong" film franchise, died on July 21, 2026, following a car accident in Maryland. Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death in an emotional social media livestream delivered in American Sign Language.

According to her father, authorities contacted him to report that his daughter had been involved in a serious collision in Maryland in the early hours of Tuesday. He later received a second call informing him that her heart had stopped while she was being transported to a hospital. Joshua Hottle stated he was traveling from Texas to Maryland to recover her remains, describing it as a flight he never would like to take. As of Tuesday afternoon, Maryland police had not released a detailed public report on the crash, including its precise location or cause.

Hottle was a breakthrough figure in Hollywood, celebrated for bringing authentic deaf representation to major studio filmmaking. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia, into a multigenerational deaf family and was a student at the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin. Her acting career began with commercials at age nine, including one for a video...