What happened to Davide Sorrenti? How Jaime King’s boyfriend’s death led her to the road of recovery

Davide Sorrenti was Jaime King’s first-ever partner, and the couple was well-known for their collaborative work during the ‘90s. According to Who's Dated Who, they were together for almost two years before the promising Italian-American fashion photographer passed away in 1997.

Sorrenti was among those who influenced the heroin chic phenomenon in the 1990s. His death at 20 also led to the downfall of the aesthetic, with even the then-US President commenting on it.

“You do not need to glamorize addiction to sell clothes… [the glorification of heroin] is not creative. It's destructive. It's not beautiful. It is ugly. And this is not about art. It's about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any society.”

An autopsy report after Davide Sorrenti’s passing revealed that he had drugs in his system, which were not in lethal amounts. Initially, the media attributed his death to an overdose, but later it was reported that the photographer died due to a suspected kidney ailment.

Davide was born with a blood disorder, thalassemia. It was also reported at the time that his struggles with drugs might have aggravated his condition.

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Davide Sorrenti’s death was reportedly wrongly attributed to drug overdose

The young fashion photographer’s death marked the unexpected fall of Heroin Chic, primarily due to media reports around his demise. His mother, Francesca Sorrenti, also spoke about her son’s death during an interview with The Observer. Addressing the initial reports of overdose, she said,

“Davide was born with a blood disorder, he was born handicapped and there's a side of me that knows he did not die of a heroin overdose. He died because he used drugs and his body couldn't take it. But at least he died peacefully.”

Davide Sorrenti’s life was also subject to the documentary See Know Evil, featuring his mother. While talking to The Face, Francesca again reiterated,

“Davide’s death was painted in the media as the result of a heroin overdose… There wasn’t enough heroin in his system to kill a fly.”

During the chat, Sorrenti, also a photographer, reflected upon Davide's media image. She said,

“If you look at his photography, it’s not about drugs; it’s about him creating this kind of dream world… He would tell me that it was as much about his suffering as it was his dreams. If you look at the bodies in his pictures, they’re always moving – it’s very trance-like.”

Davide Sorrenti’s death also took a toll on Jaime King. She was his girlfriend at the time of his passing and was also struggling with drug addiction.

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Davide Sorrenti’s death pushed Jaime King to overcome her drug problems

After her former boyfriend’s death, the model found it hard to cope with everything, especially after Clinton commented on the Heroin Chic. King spoke about her experience after Davide’s passing in an interview with The Cut in 2023.

“After Davide passed, that was the first time I experienced any… I didn’t know what a panic attack was, but I felt like I was always going to die. The cruelest thing was having Bill Clinton, the president of the fucking United States of America, talk about you and the love of your life and describing us as “heroin chic” while displaying our images and distorting them.”

She further added how perception was made around them, even though she was just 17 (at that time).

“People made it seem like we were glamorizing death, but we weren’t; it was our way of saying something about the kids who were dying too young.”

In 2024, she spoke to The New York Times about the same and emphasized seeking help and focusing on self-care through reading. After Davide Sorrenti’s death, she reportedly entered rehab at Hazleton Clinic to become sober, per Daily Mail.