Chadwick Boseman's Widow Shares Speech She Wrote for 2021 Oscars
Chadwick Boseman's Widow Shares Speech She Wrote for 2021 Oscars
Mia GalanteSun, March 15, 2026 at 3:23 PM UTC
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(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer on Getty Images)
Chadwick Boseman's wife, Simone Ledward-Boseman, has shared the Oscars speech she prepared for her late husband for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Ledward-Boseman's speech was a part of The Hollywood Reporter's oral history of the 2021 Academy Awards. Boseman was nominated for Best Actor but lost the award to Anthony Hopkins.
Ledward-Boseman told THR she found the speech she would have given on her late husband's behalf on her computer.
"I will never stop thanking God for you. Thank you to the most high God. Thank you, Carolyn and Leroy Boseman [Chadwick’s parents], and your mothers, and your mothers’ mothers. What purity. What honesty. What pain. What a role. What work," she wrote. "What beautiful, intricate humanity. What courage, bravery, fearlessness, honesty, commitment, humanity, strength. A spirit that refused to surrender to despair. What an actor. What an artist. What a cast. What a team. What a vision. Glory be to the most high God. Long live the King."
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THR's feature on the 2021 Oscars ceremony takes a look at the first time the awards show took place post COVID. The article includes interviews from over 40 people including Stacey Sher who was one of the producers for the 2021 ceremony. Sher gave insight into the decision to move the Best Actor award to the end of the night.
"I’m going to just spill all secrets. Everything we did was about kindness. Chadwick Boseman’s widow was coming in. She didn’t go to any other shows. We had a special camper for her that she could be in so that she didn’t have to sit in the room," Sher said.
She added, "The idea was that if it was before best picture, and Chadwick lost, she’d have to sit through to the end, and we didn’t want to put her in that position. It was actually done to be as kind to her as possible and keep her in the room for the least amount of time that she had to be because it was a brave and intense thing for her to be dealing with her grief publicly."
Boseman passed away in 2020 after a private battle with colon cancer. He was 43 years old.
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This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
