Celebrity chef Sandra Lee had to flee the Hotel Exedra in Rome, Italy after discovering she was staying in the very same room where James Gandolfini died of a heart attack just days before.
Lee was in Italy on vacation with her family, not unlike Gandolfini who was there with his 13-year-old son Michael.
According to E! News, shortly after having a quiet father-son dinner at the Vitta restaurant, Michael found Gandolfini collapsed and unconscious in their hotel room bathroom.
The actor was rushed to Policlinico Umberto hospital where he was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest.
Lee unwittingly checked into room 449 on Friday – just two days after Gandolfini’s passing, the Daily Mail now reports.
Lee only discovered the tragic history of the room when she received incessant phone calls from European paparazzi.
Her rep issued a statement about the ordeal, saying, “Sandra is disappointed in the hotel staff and drivers for leaking information about her family vacation and whereabouts as well as the hotel’s disclosure that her room was the location of the sad event.”
Us Magazine had more details on the paparazzi’s harassment.
Lee’s rep continued on to say, “Sandra Lee has moved out of the hotel room previously occupied by James Gandolfini. The European paparazzi has been overwhelming…with non-stop phone calls to the room…reporters are pulling all sorts of trickery – trying to bribe hotel staff to get into the suite.”
Concluding, the rep said, “There are few words to accurately describe the loss his family is feeling, but Ms. Lee conveys her deepest sympathy to his loved ones.”