Chadwick Boseman’s Wife Opens Up About ‘Most Challenging Two Years’ of Her Life For First Time After His Death

Chadwick Boseman is best known for his portrayal of T'Challa / Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2016 to 2019. The Black Panther actor passed away in 2020 after a private battle with colon cancer at 43 years old. Two years after his death, his wife Simone Ledward Boseman is opening up about her journey through the ordeal and its aftermath. In an interview with Whoopi Goldberg on Good Morning America, Ledward Boseman spoke about her marriage to the late actor, the legacy he's left behind, and how she's "making her way through the world without him."

"I met this person who is this wonderful man, and he then ended up being a global superstar, and really, after Black Panther came out, it did kind of happen overnight," she told Goldberg. The couple was worried about Boseman's cancer battle becoming public due to his newfound superstardom. Simone revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, her husband's health began to "spiral." "It seemed like, 'Is this a crazy coincidence?' That we get to actually be inside, we get to be here with family, you know, together, and everybody in the world is also experiencing this togetherness in the midst of this awful, scary, unpredictable time," Simone recalled.

His health battle was kept under wraps for a long time and when the news of his death was announced, it "shocked and devastated" the world, explained Goldberg, 66. "Some days, I'm doing worse than I'm really willing to acknowledge. Other days, I'm doing better than I feel comfortable admitting," Ledward Boseman shared. "It has been the most challenging two years I've ever had in my life," she said. While navigating through her grief, Ledward Boseman has been determined to keep his legacy alive. The Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship has been created in the late actor's name at his "beloved" alma mater, Howard University. The university's college of fine arts has also been renamed in Boseman's honor.  "[We're] taking this mantle, and we are carrying it to as many voices as we can," Ledward Boseman said. "I can't believe that I was so lucky," she said tearfully. "I can't believe that I got to love this person, and I also got them to love me too."

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige talked about Chadwick Boseman's absence while filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which is set to release on November 11. "There was an event called D23 about a month or so ago. Chadwick was honored as a Disney Legend and I got to meet his whole family there for the first time," Feige explained. "I just feel very lucky and thankful that I got to have him in my life for the short time that I did. And importantly, at such a young age, he had such a body of work that it will last forever. That generation after generation after generation will get to feel his presence."

References:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/Culture/video/chadwick-bosemans-widow-breaks-silence-exclusive-1st-interview-92469863

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/black-panther-wakanda-forever-box-office-opening-weekend-1235409682/
https://finearts.howard.edu/

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Kevork Djansezian