Tragic Details About Brandi Passante's Life
The following article mentions domestic violence allegations.
Brandi Passante's name is more or less synonymous with A&E's hit reality show "Storage Wars." The show took off at breakneck speed after it debuted, and at the start of Season 2, it racked up 5.1 million viewers and became A&E's highest-rating show in history. The series centers around abandoned storage units, which are then auctioned to the highest bidder. The original "Storage Wars" cast, which consisted of professional buyers, would then try to get lucky with these units, hoping to buy one that contains some rare oddities or incredibly valuable artifacts. The kicker? Those who bid on storage units have no idea what's inside. It's all about trusting your gut and having lady luck on your side. Basically, it's like a grown-up treasure hunt with very high stakes.
Brandi Passante is very good at this treasure hunt — so much so that some viewers think what she does looks super easy and a great way to get rich quick. Speaking to Danny Jordan for "The Dad Diary," Passante said that many fans have come up to her during auctions to tell her that they'd quit their jobs to become professional buyers. Many clearly underestimated the amount of patience, time, and good fortune that goes into this line of work.
Even though Passante has had great success with the show, she's navigated plenty of tragedy and emotional turmoil behind the scenes. From feeling the painful sting of fame to having her heart broken, Passante's life has been far from perfect.
Brandi Passante was a victim of stalker porn
Being a public figure comes with a number of drawbacks, and Brandi Passante is no stranger to the ugly things you sometimes have to deal with when the world knows your name. As noted in The Hollywood Reporter, Passante sued Hunter Moore, porn distributor and founder of the stalker porn site IsAnyoneUp.com, in 2012 after she became aware of videos featuring her likeness doing the rounds on Tumblr. Moore took IsAnyoneUp to Tumblr and X (formerly Twitter) after the court ordered him to shut the site down. He posted a video of someone who he claimed was Passante and wrote, "brandie from storage wars."
Passante first became aware of the video's existence when she received messages about it on X. She maintained that the video was totally fake. She later said that she went through a rough time after the video surfaced, fearing that it would find its way to her family's phone screens.
Needless to say, Passante sued Moore for all he had. She managed to get a judge to ban Moore from spreading any more of the videos, but her lawsuit against him wasn't very successful. She only received $750 in damages after initially suing Moore for $2.5 million. To make matters worse, Moore's attitude didn't change at all throughout the whole ordeal and after the final verdict, he took to X and wrote, "What should I write on the check in the memo line for that b**ch who sued me?"
She had to fight for her place in a male-dominated industry
While Brandi Passante made some big bucks on "Storage Wars," she still had to pave a way for herself in the professional storage buyer world. This wasn't exactly easy. As she explained to Lifetime Moms in 2013, working in the male-dominated industry can be wildly unpleasant at times. However, she's not one to back down from challenge.
"It forces me to be tougher and not to wear my heart on my sleeve," Passante told Lifetime Moms. "I find that the men in my business will walk all over you once they discover your weaknesses, so you have no choice but to develop a thick skin." Evidently, having brothers prepared her for the cutthroat storage auction world. As she recalled to the outlet, "I grew up with brothers, and they used to beat the crap out of me when we were younger, and I think that toughened me up a bit!"
Speaking to Danny Jordan on "The Dad Diary" in 2020, Passante explained how much of the work that happened behind the scenes on "Storage Wars" was very unglamorous. "This is backbreaking work," she said. Over the years, she's proven that she can do this kind of work just as well as her male counterparts and has no doubt inspired countless women to follow in her footsteps.
She received scary fan mail after becoming famous
After "Storage Wars" became a raging success, Brandi Passante was a bona fide reality star. While that may sound like a dream for some people, becoming a public figure was a nightmare for her initially. "I got some scary letters at the very beginning. I did have to move at one point to a guard-gated community," Passante revealed during a chat with Danny Jordan for "The Dad Diary." Things got so bad that Passante was afraid to leave her house for a while. "I did have to have a little bit of therapy about it," she admitted.
Speaking to Lifetime Moms, Passante said that she's not as extroverted as she appears on the show. "I even get anxiety when I have to go out to the store or to the gas station because I'm afraid of people approaching me," she confessed. Passante said that her shyness sometimes makes her come across as an unpleasant person, and when she was a child, she would often throw unintentional dirty looks at onlookers. Passante is well-aware that, because of her introverted personality, people sometimes have a misperception of her on "Storage Wars." "I think I'm perceived as a b**ch on the show, but I'm just trying to run a business and save money!" she said.
She and her boyfriend split after almost 20 years together
One person that was a constant presence throughout Brandi Passante's time on "Storage Wars" was her longtime boyfriend, Jarrod Schulz. However, in the "Storage Wars" Season 13 premiere, Passante announced they'd split up in 2018. Fans were understandably shocked to find out the couple called it.
Some of we do know about Passante and Schulz's breakup came up during a 2021 interview Passante gave to Spirit Talk. Throughout the chat, she opened up about moving on from the relationship. "I was describing it as sort of emotionally dead inside," she said. "I wasn't really allowed to have an identity for many, many years. And so these last couple of years, I'm kind of coming into my own and figuring out who I am."
Many wondered whether Passante was dating anyone after her breakup with Schulz came to light, and she addressed this during her chat with Spirit Talk. She confirmed that she hadn't found anyone special yet. "I just don't have an attachment to anyone, you know?" she said, but admitted that she had thrown herself back into dating for a while. "It's not something I'm really trying hard to seek out. I'm waiting until I, you know, can feel an attachment to someone," she added. Things between Passante and Schulz appeared a little cold after the breakup, with the two at loggerheads during storage auctions.
Brandi Passante became a single mom
After she and Jarrod Schulz went their separate ways, Brandi Passante found herself fulfilling the new role of a single mom. Speaking to Danny Jordan for "The Dad Diary," Passante revealed that, while Schulz was still a part of their children's lives, their two kids were living with her. She shared that as tough as it was to raise two teenagers by herself, she and her kids were making the best of it.
"We have a good relationship," Passante said of her children. "We talk to each other and we're able to tell each other things without me getting shocked or upset." However, she also said that she's trying to navigate the fine line between being her kids' confidante and their mom. "I have to reiterate to them often... we can be cool, we have a good time together, but I'm not your friend, I'm your mom. It's completely different," Passante added.
When asked whether juggling multiple roles as a single mom was challenging, Passante revealed that she did most of the parenting when she and Schulz were together; her responsibility list hadn't changed too much. That said, she did confess that her kids were more responsive to Schulz when he asked them to do their chores. "It's the scary dad voice in the background that we're missing," Passante said. Even so, she was content with their family dynamic. "I think we're good right now. I'm very happy with my life right now," she said.
Her kids have received negative attention online
One thing about being in the spotlight is that, when the whole world knows your name, chances are they are pretty familiar with your family too, and Brandi Passante's kids know this all too well. Passante experienced just how much her fame affected her children when the social media trolls decided to take aim at them on a few occasions, and she's tried to keep them out of the spotlight ever since.
While making an appearance on "The Dad Diary," Passante said that her kids don't want her posting pictures of them on any social media platforms. "Anytime I post anything, people say gross things about my daughter or, you know, just inappropriate stuff, and I don't want to expose them to that," she said. Passante explained that she respects her kids' wishes to remain off her social media feed and therefore rarely post any pictures with them unless she has their permission.
Passante has plenty of videos and pictures she treasures on her camera roll, but the world won't get to see it. She did, however, post a snap of her daughter on Instagram in 2020 to celebrate her winter formal and show off her outfit. In the caption, she explained to her followers why they rarely saw her kids on social media. "I stopped posting photos of my babies. Because some creepy a** dudes were harassing them," she wrote. "Don't be gross."
Her ex allegedly started a physical altercation with her
In May 2021, Brandi Passante and Jarrod Schulz's relationship made headlines again. Passante was spending time in an Orange County bar with some of her friends when Schulz visited the establishment and proceeded to have an exchange with Passante that reportedly turned violent. Police sources who spoke to TMZ after the incident said that, once the couple's exchange turned heated, Passante asked Schulz to leave, but he refused to do so. According to the sources, the argument escalated and then got physical. Schulz allegedly shouted at Passante before pushing her twice.
Thanks to the commotion, the police were called, but Schulz reportedly made a duck for it before authorities arrived at the scene. Passante gave a statement to the police but Schulz denied the allegations. In the end, he was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence.
It's not clear what the former couple were arguing about. Passante had hinted in an April 2021 interview with Pop Culture that she and Schulz weren't getting along so well on the set of "Storage Wars," describing working with her ex as "not comfortable."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Brandi Passante's father died during the pandemic
Brandi Passante is one of the many people who lost a family member during the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak. In October 2020, the "Storage Wars" personality took to Instagram to share that her dad died. She posted a picture of her father holding her as a baby with lyrics of Willie Nelson's song "Angels Flying Too Close To The Ground." "I always smile when I think of you. I was most definitely a daddy's girl," Passante continued in the caption. "I can't think of a time that you ever got mad at me or yelled at me. I absolutely used that to my advantage. I will miss you terribly."
Passante has continued to honor her father on social media in the years since his passing. In 2024, the reality star posted a video with various clips of the two of them to celebrate his birthday. "I miss you terribly," Passante wrote in a caption. "I hope you're enjoying a Road Soda, in a paper bag & a cheap smoke."
Brandi Passante was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease
In 2022, an Instagram follower asked Brandi Passante why her voice is "raspy." She decided to share her answer in an Instagram Story. "I have Hashimoto's Disease," she stated. "An auto-immune that affects my thyroid. Sometimes, it makes my throat raspy." Passante didn't elaborate on when she was diagnosed with the disease or whether she experienced any other symptoms.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a raspy voice isn't the only symptom of Hashimoto's disease; weight gain, exhaustion, and constipation are other common signs. Puffiness of the face, hair loss, infertility, muscle pain and joint stiffness, an inability to concentrate, and depression are also associated with the disease. Hashimoto's affects the thyroid gland's hormone production, causing it to produce less thyroid hormone than it should. This is what leads to the unpleasant symptoms associated with the disease.
Hashimoto's disease is relatively common — about every five in 100 people in the U.S. have this autoimmune condition — and medications that can help keep symptoms at bay are available. Unfortunately, no cure yet exists for Hashimoto's disease and the medication used to treat symptoms can cause some undesirable side effects.