Caitlyn Jenner reacts to Sophia Hutchins’ death after ATV crash
A somber Caitlyn Jenner has broken her silence on the sudden death of her longtime friend and manager, Sophia Hutchins.
While stepping out for a coffee run Thursday in Malibu, Calif. — where she lives — Jenner, 75, told the Daily Mail she was going through “tough times” and didn’t “want to talk.”
The casually dressed Olympic gold medalist hid her eyes behind black sunglasses.
Hutchins died Wednesday morning in an ATV accident near Jenner’s condo. She was 29.
Hutchins was reportedly driving the four-wheeler when she collided with the bumper of a moving vehicle, throwing both her and her ATV off the road and down a 350-foot ravine.
According to aerial footage of the cash site, Hutchins’ ATV landed upside down on top of an old car that had also plunged down the cliff.
Emergency responders pronounced her dead at the scene. No one else was injured.
It’s unclear where Jenner was at the time of the fatal crash.
The former decathlete met Hutchins via their hairstylists in 2015 — the same year Jenner came out as transgender. Hutchins credited Jenner’s coming out story with helping her complete her own transition.
Two years later, the Pepperdine University graduate moved in with Jenner, who was 46 years her senior, and became her manager. Hutchins appeared in several episodes of the reality show “I Am Cait” and attended numerous events with Jenner’s ex-wife Kris Jenner and her Kardashian kids.
“I’m on good terms with all the family, but I’m closest with Kris, Kim [Kardashian], Kylie [Jenner] and Kendall [Jenner],” Hutchins explained in 2019.
She even starred in an ad campaign for Kim’s shapewear brand, Skims.
Caitlyn’s close friendship with Hutchins sparked a slew of dating rumors, which they both repeatedly denied.
In 2018, Hutchins insisted that her relationship with Jenner was “never romantic” or “sexual” but rather “very parental” and “protective.” She reiterated in 2021 that there was “no hanky panky” between the pals.