Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now with an ABC News exclusive, Simone Ledward Boseman, the widow of the late beloved actor Black Panther star, Chadwick Boseman. Simone sat down with our Whoopi Goldberg for the very first interview about her unimaginable loss. Our friend and co-host of The View joining us now in studio. Good morning, Whoopi.
Whoopi (00:18):
Good morning. It was quite an experience. She’s such an adorable young lady and this loss is still very fresh for her. And I really wanted to talk to her about their relationship and how they met, because I like origin stories and so it was very, very moving. I just felt what she was feeling, I think, and that was that loss. Because that star was so bright and had so many possibilities that suddenly it’s gone and I couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose that light in her life. So I wanted to talk to her about that and all the other things that he is responsible for. Talking about little kids, looking at Black Panthers, seeing themselves going, “Oh me, I could be that.” I wasn’t Black Panther for Halloween this year, but I thought about it. I did, but I couldn’t get in the costume.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
[inaudible 00:01:24] little weight.
Whoopi (01:24):
Anyway, she’s also an artist and a musician, and she said that she’s recording new music and she’s making her way through the world without him. And it’s really something to watch and to listen to. And so, because this is still kind of fresh, I haven’t really done a deep dive study on how I should be talking about this interview, but it is terrific, I think, because it gives you some insight into them.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Let’s take a look at it.
Simone Boseman (02:01):
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.
Whoopi (02:13):
Black Panther would forever change Chadwick Boseman’s life. It catapulted him to a different stratosphere of fame. The film earned more than a billion dollars worldwide, with Chadwick becoming the first Black superhero in the Marvel universe.
Chadwick (02:33):
We knew that we had something special, that we wanted to give the world, that we could be full human beings in the roles that we were playing.
Whoopi (02:43):
But in 2020, after a hard fight and private four year battle with colon cancer, the 43 year old actor passed away. Now the news both shocked and devastated fans around the world and it devastated his family, including the love of his life. His widow, Simone Boseman.
Simone Boseman (03:02):
I can’t believe that I was so lucky. I can’t believe that I got to love this person. And I also got them to love me too.
Chadwick (03:15):
Simone, you with me every day. I have to acknowledge you right now. Love you.
Simone Boseman (03:21):
It has been the most challenging two years I’ve ever had in my life.
Whoopi (03:29):
When you decided not to share what was happening, we just get somebody who was going to dig and find out that he was much iller than people thought.
Simone Boseman (03:39):
It was Covid when things were really starting to spiral. And that meant that everybody was in their house and there was no pressure for anybody to go outside. It seemed like, is this a crazy coincidence that we get to actually be inside? We get to be here with family, together. And everybody in the world is also experiencing this togetherness in the midst of this awful, scary, unpredictable time. We kept that circle real. Our circle was basically a dot.
Whoopi (04:10):
That support was a needed crutch. It would be Simone who would accept the Golden Globe on her late husband’s behalf for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Chadwick (04:21):
I ain’t like you, Cutler. I got talent. Me and this horn, we’s tight.
Simone Boseman (04:27):
He would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside of all of us that tells you, that tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history.
(04:49)
Some days I’m doing worse than I’m really willing to acknowledge. And other days I’m doing better than I feel comfortable admitting. The grief really, it moves in.
Whoopi (05:02):
Howard University was his beloved alma mater, where they recently reestablished their College of Fine Arts program, naming it in his honor.
Simone Boseman (05:11):
So we have a scholarship now, right at Howard, and we have four scholars. One of them graduated this past year and was very proud to be the first graduating Boseman scholar of the first graduating class of the Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts.
Whoopi (05:29):
One of the scholars is junior acting major, Sean Smith.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
Chadwick Boseman’s legacy has paved away from me. He showed that you aren’t just limited to these basic roles. You could do whatever you want.
Whoopi (05:42):
And education was a huge important part of Chadwick’s legacy.
Simone Boseman (05:46):
Taking this mantle, and we are carrying it to as many voices as we can.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
What a powerful…
Whoopi (05:59):
I sat there just holding on, but she’s quite a force to be reckoned with, and if anybody’s going to take that legacy forward, it’s going to be her.
Speaker 7 (06:10):
Agree with that.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And there’s a lot more to watch. You can see more of Whoopi’s interview as part of the special 2020 presents Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda. It airs this Friday on ABC at eight eastern and it streams the next day on Hulu. Whoopi, thank you so much.
Whoopi (06:25):
Thank you. Thanks.
Speaker 9 (06:27):
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