Yesterday, June 29th, would have been Oliver Tree's 33rd birthday. It came just two weeks after the tragic helicopter crash that claimed six lives. Tributes from fans and friends flooded social media, including one from his girlfriend, Fiona Chernavskaya.
© GettyChernavskaya is a fashion stylist who enjoyed what she described as a "very intimate" relationship with the singer. On his birthday, she took to her Instagram story to share a six-photo collage with some of their memories together.
© IG: @fijioaIn one, his famous mullet is on display with what is likely her lipstick kiss on his cheek. In another, he’s smiling on a boat, with her silly shoes tucked under his arms, then a snap of him wake surfing, and another of him smiling behind a giant condom. “33 like Jesus," she captioned the carousel, referencing Jesus Christ's age at death.
Tree's timing of his death aligns with the birthday effect, a phenomenon in which an individual's likelihood of death appears to increase on or near their birthday. Some people also believe that when you die close to your birthday, it means you did your whole rotation.
Chernavskaya has not only been dealing with grief after Tree's death but also with the cruelty of the internet. Immediately after his death, she asked for privacy. It wasn't exactly public that he had a girlfriend, and stories started floating around about him dating other women.
"Please have respect for my privacy, we kept our relationship very intimate," she wrote on her Instagram story with a photo of them at what looked like somebody's wedding. "What I really don’t need is to see gossip about other women that Oliver may have been seeing; we were monogamous. Right now, I'm mourning my partner and best friend; anything else is unimportant. Please have some respect."
Two days after his passing, she shared another touching tribute with a gallery of photos of special snaps of them traveling all around the world together, painting, hiking glaciers, and looking very much in love. “To my best friend, we traveled to 43 countries and all 7 continents together,” she wrote in the caption. “The magic, inspiration and joy you brought to my life and others will never be forgotten or replaced."
“You’d always tell me when we argued, if things don’t work out in this lifetime, you will find me in the next," she continued. “I love you, Buggy.”
Still, in the heartwarming post, Chernavskaya was faced with rude comments. Thankfully, she does have a lot of support. "To everyone being super weird and cruel to this person for absolutely no reason other than your own ignorance and parasociality - if you loved Oliver Tree, then you'd respect the people he loved in his life, especially as they are grieving!" one person wrote.
On Monday, Bobby Althoff released an interview they did before his passing, in which he's dressed as Elmo. When she asks if he has a girlfriend, Tree answers, "I don't, no," explaining that they recently broke up and he didn't want to talk about it. But Tree was always doing comedic bits and had a desire to keep certain parts of his life private, so the clip in no way means that Chernavskaya is lying about their relationship.
© GettyElsewhere in the interview, he reflected on life and how "no day is promised." "My parents, they're like, 'Oliver, it's a lot to travel all the time.' And I was like, 'Guys, look, like we don't know if I'll be alive next year or you'll be alive, like there's no day promised,'" he shared.
"Do you know how high-risk I live my life? Actually, for real," he told Althoff. "I never trusted humanity more," he added. "I put my hand blindly into people's arms, and I never had more trust. I never felt more love for humans. I never felt more connected."
© GettyTree died along with Lucas Vignale, Gaspar Prim, Lucas Brito Chaves, pilot Alexandre Souza, and pilot Charles Marsillac.
The investigation is still ongoing.
