Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway, AKA 'Diamond' Of Diamond And Silk, Dies, Setting Off Wave Of Disparate Reactions

Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway, aka "Diamond" of conservative influencers Diamond and Silk, has died according to a Truth Social post from Donald Trump and a tweet from Rochelle Richardson, aka Silk. She was 51 years old.

The news of Hardaway's death set off a wave of disparate emotions on social media today, as even those ideologically opposed to Diamond's hard-right political beliefs hesitated to rejoice in the death of another human, but several aspects surrounding her death gave the story an air of tragicomedy for some posters.

For starters, it seemed her death was fodder for /r/HermanCainAward, a subreddit devoted to marking the death of anti-vaxxers and COVID-19 deniers from the coronavirus.

Diamond, known for spreading misinformation about COVID that resulted in Fox News cutting ties with her in 2020, was hospitalized with COVID-19 a month ago. While there is no official cause of death given as of yet, some, including the website Hip Hop Wired and mods of /r/HermanCainAward, have said that implying Diamond died from COVID complications is "stating the obvious."

The next point of controversy was Trump's announcement of the death, which struck many as characteristically unsuited to the moment for the former President. In particular, Trump appeared to joke that Diamond's cause of death was "probably her big and precious HEART just plain gave out," which some found gave the death a bizarre comedic feel.

Lastly, there was Silk's post about Diamond's death, which included a fundraising link to a fundraiser pegged as Diamond's memorial, though it is unclear how those funds would be used. To critical commentators, it appeared as though Silk was attempting to grift their fans following Diamond's death, giving the affair a sour taste.

Meanwhile, Diamond is being mourned by some of her political allies, such Matt Gaetz, who responded to Trump's post with "very sad news."