LOS ANGELES — Mat George, co-host of the popular “She Rates Dogs” podcast, was struck and killed early Saturday in what Los Angeles authorities called a hit-and-run.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a white BMW traveling east on Beverly Boulevard struck George at around 2:20 a.m. as he walked southbound on Croft Avenue, KCAL reported.
The coroner positively identified George, who was not in a marked crosswalk at the time he was struck, as the victim. First responders declared George dead at the scene, and the driver of the BMW never stopped, the TV station reported.
George, 26, was known for his “humorous takes on dating, pop culture and his identity as a gay man,” The New York Times reported.
Michaela Okland, George’s co-host on the podcast, also confirmed her friend’s death via Twitter.
“He loved singing along to songs he didn’t know the words to, pretending to be straight to get on reality dating shows and talking in really bad accents,” Okland said in a prepared statement, noting that George wanted to help members of the LGBTQ community feel accepted.
George, a 2017 graduate of Arizona State University, worked as a medical scribe in Phoenix for nearly three years after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology, the Times reported, citing the podcast host’s LinkedIn profile.