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Nearly six years on from his death and Chadwick Boseman’s widow has shared more details about the actor’s cancer diagnosis.
The Black Panther and 21 Bridges star privately battled colon cancer for four years up until his death in August 2020. Boseman was just 43 years old at the time of his passing.
His death shocked the world in light of him keeping his diagnosis private. Reportedly, he didn’t even tell his Black Panther castmates about it, despite the group being extremely close.
Boseman also didn’t tell Marvel and Disney about his illness because he’d hoped that he would live long enough to film Black Panther 2, NME reported. Tragically, this wasn’t the case and he died a year before they started production.
Unfortunately, Boseman’s death aged 43 from colon cancer isn’t an uncommon thing in the US.
Chadwick Boseman was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2016 (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
It’s now one of the most common cancers for men and women. As of 2024, it was the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in America, says USA Facts.
Boseman was diagnosed in 2016 with Stage 3 colon cancer. His wife, Simone Ledward Boseman, was unaware that he had been experiencing any symptoms until he had already been to the doctor twice.
“It all seemed to come about very suddenly,” Simone said on TODAY. ” It was a matter of weeks that he started not feeling well.”
She went on to describe colon cancer as being ‘really tricky in that way’.
“Because he was so young, he wasn’t even at the point where he would consider having a colonoscopy,” Simone added.
Symptoms of colon cancer include changes in bowel habits such as diarrhoea, constipation, or narrowing of the stool, as well as blood in the stool, typically of a bright red or dark, tar-like color.
Some people may also experience abdominal cramps and bloating.
Simone explained that her late husband was briefly in remission in 2018, calling it ‘a beautiful year’.
Boseman is survived by his wife, Simone Ledward Boseman (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
“It’s harder to talk about the good times than it is the bad,” she added.
However, by the end of 2018, Boseman’s cancer had returned, this time as Stage 4.
Simone also discussed why he decided to keep his cancer diagnosis private.
“Chad was not a person that would have wanted to be treated any differently because people knew that he was sick,” she said.
Going on to share why the actor continued to work during his treatment, Simone shared: “The work is what was keeping him moving, so he didn’t want the work to suffer just because he was sick.
“He didn’t want to be handled with kid gloves because people thought he wasn’t going to be able to do his job and slide underneath falling cabinets and run across fields.”
While he was sick, Boseman filmed movies like Black Panther, 21 Bridges, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Marshall, and Da 5 Bloods.
The pair quietly married in 2020, just months before Boseman passed away.
Simone has ensured that her late husband’s legacy continues, speaking at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2025 and accepting a number of posthumous awards on his behalf.
“I don’t have to create his legacy, I just have to protect it,” she told The Guardian in February. “I just have to make sure that it doesn’t get flattened. That’s why I love talking about him – I think it’s important that people understand him as a full human being, that they get the full picture of who he was.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.