August 29th marked two years since the world lost actor Chadwick Boseman. The Anderson, South Carolina native left an incredible film legacy in his wake and got to play some incredible men, from James Brown to Jackie Robinson and of course, fictional king T’Challa aka The Black Panther. Boseman led a very private life, with many people not even knowing he was married or sick at the time of his passing. His widow recently broke her silence on his passing ahead of the sequel to the movie Black Panther, which was made in his honor.
Simone Ledward Boseman was married to the late actor at his time of passing. They began dating in 2015. Simone is listed by several sites as a singer. She and Boseman got engaged in October 2019 and married in secret. No one knew of their nuptials outside of their immediate family until he passed. Boseman unfortunately passed away without a will. His wife, Simone was later put in charge of handling the all financial matters. After accounting for all residuals earned following his passing, Simone has the court to split the actors $2.3 million fortune evenly between her and his parents.
In an exclusive interview with Good Morning America, she recently opened up to Whoopi Goldberg about how hard life has been without her husband and how she’s dealt with the last few years. “I can’t believe that I was so lucky. I can’t believe that I got to love this person and got him to love me too,” she said in the interview. Simone opens up about how challenging things have been for her since his passing, but also how hard it was in his final days.
She reveals that COVID-19 brought them some strange peace since it forced everyone to stay at home. Chadwick was able to go through his physical changes in peace without having to worry about the public trying to pry into what was wrong with him. “Is this a crazy coincidence that we get to be inside and with family? In the midst of this awful, scary, unpredictable time.”
Simone has stayed behind the scenes, appearing in public only once to accept the Golden Globe for her husband’s work on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom following his passing. “He would say something beautiful, something inspiring. Something that would amplify that little voice in all of us that tells you you can,” she said during her speech. Simone says that some days are worst and some days are better.
Simone’s pain is felt throughout all the communities that Chadwick touched. Marvel opted not to recast the role of T’Challa following his death, hoping to honor him and admitting they simply were not sure how to replace him because it all felt too soon. The cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has opened up about his loss, saying they felt him on set guiding them and encouraging them. The film will center around the death of T’Challa and how his family has to now move on in his absence.
Rihanna contributed a song to the film written by African Popstar Tems. The record, called “Lift Me Up,” is said to be an ode to Chadwick and his legacy. On the song, Rihanna sings, “Lift me up, hold me down. Keep me safe.” Boseman passed in 2020 after a battle with cancer that he kept private from the world.
Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters next Friday, November 11th.
