Taylor Simone Ledward paid tribute to late husband Chadwick Boseman during Monday’s virtual Gotham Awards, calling the “Black Panther” star, “the most honest person I’d ever met.”
Boseman, who died over the summer after a private battle with colon cancer, was the recipient of the Actor Tribute prize, which Ledward tearfully accepted.
“He is the most honest person I’d ever met,” Ledward said, according to People. “He actively searched for it, in himself, those around him and the moment. The truth can be a very easy thing for the self to avoid. But if one does not live in truth, then it’s impossible to live life.”
Ledward added how her husband “was blessed to live many lives within his concentrated one. He developed his understanding of what it meant to be the one, the none and the all. ‘A vessel to be poured into and out of,’ he’d said.”
The 2020 drama, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” marked Boseman’s final film appearance. He received a Gotham Awards nomination for Best Actor, with the prize ultimately going to Riz Ahmed for his turn in the “Sound of Metal.”
Ledward said Monday it was her “honor” to accept Boseman’s Tribute prize on his behalf.
“It is my honor to receive this award on behalf of my husband, and acknowledgment not only of his profound work but of his impact on this industry and this world,” an emotional Ledward said.
“Chad,” she continued, tearfully. “Thank you. I love you, I am so proud of you, keep shining your light on us.”
Boseman and Ledward reportedly got engaged in October 2019 and tied the knot before his death. Boseman died in August at the age of 43.
