Kaylee Hottle dies at 18 after Maryland car accident
Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress best known as Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong and its sequel, has died at 18 after a car accident in Maryland, her father Joshua Hottle confirmed. Officials told him her heart stopped while she was being taken to the hospital.
Key Takeaways
- Kaylee Hottle died at 18 following a car accident in Maryland on Tuesday.
- Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed the news to TMZ and in a nearly 23-minute ASL Facebook livestream.
- She starred as Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024).
- The Atlanta-born actress came from a multi-generational deaf family and began acting at age 9.
- Joshua said he was flying from Texas to Maryland to claim his daughter's body.
What happened to Kaylee Hottle?
According to TMZ, Kaylee Hottle was killed in a car accident in Maryland earlier Tuesday morning. Her father, Joshua Hottle, said authorities first informed him of a serious crash, then called again to say her heart had stopped en route to the hospital.
Joshua, who was in Texas when he received the news, said he was flying to Maryland to claim her body. He shared the tragedy in a nearly 23-minute Facebook livestream conducted in American Sign Language, captioned, "I am taking a flight that I never would like to take."
Page Six reported that social media users offered support under the post, praising Kaylee as a "brilliant and kind" kid.
Who was Kaylee Hottle and why does her death matter?
Kaylee Hottle was a young deaf actress who broke through in one of Hollywood's biggest monster franchises. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007 and raised in Austin, she attended the Texas School for the Deaf and came from a multi-generational deaf family.
She got her start at age 9 in a commercial for Glide, a live video messaging app popular with deaf and hard-of-hearing users. In 2021, she played Jia — a teenager living on Skull Island with Rebecca Hall's Dr. Ilene Andrews — who communicates with King Kong through sign language in Godzilla vs. Kong. She returned as Jia in 2024's Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.
Hottle also appeared as Joon in a season 4 episode of NBC's Magnum P.I. reboot. Just Jared noted she had a project titled What Doesn't Kill Us listed in pre-production on IMDb.
Her death is a developing story in celebrity breaking news, and further details about the crash have not yet been released.
How did Kaylee Hottle leave a mark on film?
Across two Godzilla films, Kaylee Hottle put American Sign Language and deaf culture in front of a global blockbuster audience. Jia's bond with Kong — built through signing rather than spoken dialogue — became a defining human thread in the franchise.
Coming from a multi-generational deaf family, she placed authentic deaf talent at the center of a major studio series. As tributes continue, attention remains on a life cut short at 18 and on the family now mourning after the Maryland crash.