Rick Harrison is recovering after doctors performed emergency bypass surgery on the “Pawn Stars” fixture.
Harrison, 61, had checked in for what was anticipated to be a straightforward procedure before physicians determined he needed the far more serious operation, a spokesperson for the Harrison family said. The rep said the reality television personality is now “resting comfortably” as his recovery continues.
The same spokesperson added that Harrison is thankful for the treatment he is receiving from doctors and hospital staff, and that his wife, Agripina “Angie” Polushkin, and his children are with him at the hospital. Harrison shares son Corey, 43, with his first wife, Kim, and son Jake, 23, with his second wife, Tracy.
The medical emergency comes roughly a year after Harrison suffered the loss of his son Adam, whom he also shared with Kim. Adam died in January 2024 at age 39 from an apparent fentanyl overdose. “Our family is extremely saddened by the death of Adam. We ask for privacy as we grieve his loss,” the Harrison family said in a statement at the time.
A representative for Harrison later confirmed the cause of death and issued a sharp statement about the broader crisis. “The fentanyl crisis in this country must be taken more seriously,” the rep said. “It seems it is just flowing over the borders and nothing is being done about it. We must do better.”
Harrison himself mourned Adam on Instagram in the days following his death.
“You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam. 💔,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself and Adam spending time at a bar.
The family’s latest health scare also surfaces amid lingering tension between Harrison and his eldest surviving son, Corey. In March, Harrison publicly criticized Corey for launching a GoFundMe campaign to help pay medical bills after Corey suffered a serious motorcycle accident in Tulum, Mexico, the previous January.
“As far as I know, I paid all of Corey’s medical bills long before he put the GoFundMe out,” Harrison said via his rep at the time. “He is a grown man in his 40s and is responsible for how he handles his finances.”
Corey had broken 11 ribs in the crash, and his friend Aron Chambers revealed that Corey also suffered a concussion, internal bleeding and a punctured lung. Chambers created the fundraising page, writing in part that it was done “with [Corey’s] full knowledge and blessing” to “[raise] emergency funds to cover more than $100,000 in medical bills and related expenses after a serious motorcycle accident in Tulum, Mexico, that left him fighting for his life.”
Corey appeared alongside his father on “Pawn Stars” from the series’ debut in 2009 until it went on hiatus in 2025 following its 23rd season. The History Channel staple is set to return in 2027 without Corey, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Harrison has anchored the Las Vegas-based pawn shop show since its premiere, building the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop into a tourist destination and turning his family into television fixtures. The program’s format follows Harrison, his late father Richard “Old Man” Harrison, and Corey as they evaluate unusual items brought in by customers.
The elder Harrison died in 2018 at age 77, leaving Rick as the family’s public face and the shop’s operational leader. Through multiple marriages, business expansions and now two seasons of personal loss, he has remained the central figure in one of cable television’s longest-running reality franchises.
The History Channel has not announced a specific premiere date for the 2027 revival.
