Updated 5:05 a.m. PT February 18, 2016: “Mob Wives” star Angela “Big Ang” Raiola died of cancer in New York at 3:01 a.m. Thursday, according to a posting on her official Twitter account by a family member.
Previously:
“Mob Wives” star Angela “Big Ang” Raiola is still alive, her representative confirmed to TheWrap on Wednesday night.
News outlets led by ET had previously reported that the VH1 reality star had lost her battle with throat cancer at age 55, but her spokesperson denied the report. (It was initially cited by news outlets including TheWrap.)
“At this time that is a false rumor. I am here with the entire family and all her friends and they ask for your continued support and prayers. We will keep everyone updated,” Raiola’s representative told TheWrap in a statement.
Following the ET report, a tweet from Big Ang’s official Twitter page said that she was still alive and in a hospital surrounded by loved ones.
Please see below:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE… pic.twitter.com/xxd2p7Ftqb— Angela Raiola (@biggangVH1) February 18, 2016
VH1 directed all media requests to the official Twitter site.
It was reported last December that Raiola’s cancer had returned after a lemon-sized tumor was discovered and removed in March 2015. That June, she underwent the same procedure for the right side of her throat.
Last month, the prognosis got worse when she was diagnosed with stage 4 brain and lung cancer.
Raiola joined “Mob Wives” Season 2 in 2012 because her uncle, the late Salvatore “Sally Dogs” Lombardi, was a captain of the Genovese family. Along with her TV career, she also owned a bar called Drunken Monkey in Staten Island, New York.