Tafari Campbell, Barack Obama‘s personal chef during his time in the White House from 2009 to 2017, was found dead on July 24, 2023, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, an exclusive residential area in Duke County where celebrities such as Bill Clinton, Bill Murray, the Farrelly brothers and Steven Tyler spend their summers.
None of the members of the Obama family were at home at the time of the incident.
“When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House, creative and passionate about food and its ability to bring people together,” the Obamas said through a statement.
“In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter.”
How did Tafari Campbell, Obama’s personal chef, die?
A spokesman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety has confirmed that, according to an autopsy, Tafari Campbell died from drowning.
The cause of death has been ruled accidental, after having been paddleboarding the night before.
“He fell into the water, appeared to briefly struggle to stay on the surface, and then submerged and did not resurface,” Massachusetts State Police reported.
A witness said the cook was not wearing a life jacket and was not strapped to the paddle board.