{"id":2512233,"date":"2026-07-22T09:24:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T09:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2512233"},"modified":"2026-07-22T09:24:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T09:24:55","slug":"kaylee-hottle-deaf-godzilla-actor-killed-in-car-crash-at-18-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/kaylee-hottle-deaf-godzilla-actor-killed-in-car-crash-at-18-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaylee Hottle, deaf ‘Godzilla’ actor, killed in car crash at 18 | National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kaylee Hottle, a deaf actor best known for her starring role<\/a> in two \u201cGodzilla\u201d films, died in a car crash in Maryland early Tuesday morning, the Frederick County Sheriff\u2019s Office said. She was 19.<\/p>\n

Hottle was one of two passengers in the car when it went off the road and hit a culvert in Ijamsville before 3 a.m. The driver was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and the other passenger declined medical treatment, according to a news release from the sheriff\u2019s office. Excessive speed is believed to be a factor in the crash, which is under investigation, the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

Hottle was a native signer of American Sign Language, and her family members are also deaf. Her parents, Joshua and Ketsi Hottle, shared emotional video statements about her death on social media sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaylee\u2019s mom and four siblings are crushed,\u201d her father said in ASL in a post from an airport. \u201cThey are together at home, grieving. I am on my way to Maryland to bring Kaylee\u2019s body back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hottle\u2019s heart stopped before she arrived at a hospital, transported by air from the scene of the accident, her father said. \u201cVery grateful for the years we had together \u2014 and wish we had more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Joshua Hottle also reached out to the driver, described by the sheriff\u2019s office as a 19-year-old Frederick man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have forgiven you,\u201d her father said. \u201cDon\u2019t let this incident ruin the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201cGodzilla vs. Kong\u201d and the sequel, \u201cGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire,\u201d Hottle played an orphaned girl named Jia who sees beyond Kong\u2019s threatening appearance and forms a special bond with the monster, communicating with him using sign language.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so devastated to hear this. You will be deeply missed Kaylee,\u201d her \u201cGodzilla\u201d co-star Millie Bobby Brown posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Co-star Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd<\/a>, who learned ASL to communicate with Hottle, told the pop culture website Junkee in 2021 that he and others were impressed by the young ingenue\u2019s professionalism and her ability to quickly incorporate the director\u2019s notes into her acting.<\/p>\n

Hottle previously appeared in a 2021 television episode of \u201cMagnum P.I.\u201d She was listed as appearing in the upcoming film \u201cWhat Doesn\u2019t Kill Us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so heartbroken. My heart goes out to her family during this unimaginable time,\u201d Alaqua Cox, her co-star in that film and fellow deaf actor, wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Other prominent deaf actors also shared messages of grief online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am absolutely gutted about the passing of sweet Kaylee Hottle. May her beauty and talent be a memory for eternity,\u201d Oscar winner Marlee Matlin wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Fellow Oscar winner Troy Kotsur, who starred in the film \u201cCoda,\u201d wrote that Hottle\u2019s death made him think of his own daughter, and reminded him not to take time for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no words to express on what happened this morning,\u201d Kotsur wrote, offering his \u201cdeepest condolences\u201d to the Hottle family.<\/p>\n

Officials with Texas School for the Deaf in Austin also announced Hottle\u2019s death on Facebook, writing that counseling and support services would be available to her classmates and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease keep Kaylee\u2019s loved ones in your thoughts as we mourn this tremendous loss together,\u201d the school wrote. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yakimaherald.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaylee Hottle, a deaf actor best known for her starring role in two \u201cGodzilla\u201d films, died in a car crash in Maryland early Tuesday morning, the Frederick County Sheriff\u2019s Office said. She was 19. Hottle was one of two passengers in the car when it went off the road and hit a culvert in Ijamsville […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2512234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[21741,22773,24495],"class_list":["post-2512233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-national","tag-state"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784712293_Kaylee-Hottle-deaf-Godzilla-actor-killed-in-car-crash-at.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2512233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2512235,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2512233\/revisions\/2512235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2512234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2512233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2512233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2512233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}