'This Is Us' and 'Kidding' writer Jas Waters dies at age 39
Jas Waters, a writer on Showtime's tragicomedy series ‘Kidding’ and NBC's drama series ‘This Is Us’, has died. She was 39. The news of Waters’ death broke on Wednesday, June 10, when the writer’s room for ‘This Is Us’ shared the news on Twitter.
The statement read: “The entire #ThisIsUs family was devastated to learn of Jas Waters passing. In our time together, Jas left her mark on us and all over the show. She was a brilliant storyteller and a force of nature. We send our deepest sympathies to her loved ones. She was one of us. RIP @JasFly.”
‘This Is Us’ creator Dan Fogelman also wrote on Twitter, “This news took my breath away. Jas was absolutely brilliant and had so many stories still to tell. She made an indelible mark on our show and my heart breaks for her loved ones. RIP @JasFly.”
Waters’ representatives at Rain Management said in a statement, “It is with extremely heavy hearts that all of us at RMG mourn the life of our client and friend, Jas Waters. Jas was a talented and gifted writer, an amazing person, and a sweet soul who will be forever missed. Though she is no longer with us, her impact will be felt for years to come.”
The cause of death has not been reported as of yet.
Waters was born in Evanston, Illinois, and grew up in a retirement home, where she lived with her grandparents. In a 2018 interview with Shadow and Act, Waters discussed her journey in becoming a screenwriter: “By the time I was eight or nine, I was like Roger Ebert. I had such a grasp on what made a movie good; what made a story good. I’m also a poor Black kid who grew up in an old folks' home. So I understand ground-level life, and I bring that perspective to everything I write.”
She further said in the interview, “From the moment I got here, the rules didn’t apply to me. If the basic rules of raising a kid didn’t apply to me, then nothing else really applies to me. So I just had to figure it out. There were several times in my life that I found to be very confining. But as I look back on it, it was very freeing.”
Aside from ‘This is Us’ and ‘Kidding’, Waters also worked on shows such as Comedy Central's ‘Hood Adjacent With James Davis’ and VH1's ‘The Breaks’. She was also a former columnist at Vibe magazine.