Chadwick Boseman‘s wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, gave an emotional acceptance speech over the weekend as she accepted a posthumous Emmy award for her late husband.
1. Ledward, who is also referred to as Simone Taylor Ledward, was on hand for the ceremony.
Boseman received his first Emmy during the ceremony, winning the outstanding character voice-over performance prize for his portrayal of Star-Lord T’Challa in the Disney+ animated series What If…?.
Boseman was nominated along with F. Murray Abraham (Moon Knight), Julie Andrews (Bridgerton), Maya Rudolph (Big Mouth), Stanley Tucci (Central Park), the late Jessica Walter (Archer), and Jeffrey Wright (What If…?).
2. She gave an emotional speech in place of her late husband, who died from colon Cancer in August of 2020.
Ledward began her speech by saying, “When I learned that Chad was nominated for this award, I started thinking about everything that was going on when he was recording — everything that was going on in the world and in our world and just being in such awe of his commitment and his dedication.”
She continued, “And what a beautifully aligned moment it really is that one of the last things he would work on would not only be revisiting a character that was so important to him and his career and to the world, but also that it be an exploration of something new, diving into a new potential future — particularly with everything he spoke about purpose and finding the reason that you are here on the planet on this very time.”
3. Ledward ended her speech with an inspiring message, saying:
“You can’t understand your purpose unless you’re willing to ask, ‘What if?’ Unless you’re willing to say, ‘What if the universe is conspiring in my favor, what if it’s me?’”
Ledward concluded her acceptance of the award, saying, “Thank you so much for the honor — Chad would be so honored, and I’m honored on his behalf.”
