Chadwick Boseman’s widow shares Oscars speech she had written

Simone Ledward Boseman revealed the speech she would have given in her late husband’s honor if he had won at the 2021 Academy Awards. “I had written a whole speech,” Simone, 35, told the Hollywood Reporter, and after finding the draft in her phone she read what she had written.

She began: “It says: ‘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,’” and continued with: “‘What purity. What honesty. What pain. What a role.

What work. What beautiful, intricate humanity. What courage, bravery, fearlessness, honesty, commitment, humanity, strength.’” Chadwick was posthumously nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” just months after his tragic death; he ended up losing to Anthony Hopkins for “The Father.” Simone added: “A spirit that refused to surrender to despair.

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