Chadwick Boseman's Wife Reveals Why The Black Panther Star Kept His Cancer Diagnosis A Secret 6 Years After His Death

Chadwick Boseman kept his 2016 cancer diagnosis a secret from all but the people closest to him in his life, and it’s now been revealed why the Black Panther star chose to maintain a public silence about the disease that took his life in 2020.

Ledwed Boseman recently broke her own silence about why her husband opted not to speak openly about his battle with stage IV colon cancer, explaining that the Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Oscar nominee just wanted to go on with his life and career as normal, which meant not telling anyone beyond his inner-circle about his health battles (via The Guardian).

“Something like a cancer diagnosis can get in the way of a lot of things,” she said. “He never wanted to be treated differently. A lot of the roles he did were so physical, and he still wanted to do them. He did not want to be judged by what he was experiencing. He didn’t want his diagnosis to interfere with the work.”

When asked if she faced any angry questioning about the veil of secrecy she helped maintain around her husband’s health, Boseman explained that all she cared about was making sure her spouse’s wishes were carried out. “It’s normal to have questions but I just said, ‘If Chad didn’t talk to you about it, I’m not going to talk to you about it.’”

Boseman then spoke about the challenge of determining how best to keep her husband’s name alive after his passing. “There was a real swirling of feelings going on and pressures to make decisions about what his legacy would be,” she said. “How do you know, while you’re still grieving? How do you know what is important to talk about and what’s not important to talk about?”

Boseman's legacy was secured through the eight films he starred in after his diagnosis, including Black Panther, the Marvel blockbuster that made him an international superstar, and the posthumously-released Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Boseman’s last appearance came via archival footage in the MCU sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in which it’s revealed that his character T’Challa, in a poignant reflection of real life, died of an undisclosed illness that he kept a closely-guarded secret.Black Panther director Ryan Coogler revealed in a 2025 interview that before Boseman's passing, he tried to show him the script for Wakanda Forever, but said that the star sadly was “too sick” to read it (via Happy Sad Confused).

Boseman’s Da 5 Bloods director Spike Lee spoke to the secrecy around the star's illness, saying in a 2020 interview that he had no idea the star was sick as he shot his part in the film, a job that required the cast and crew to travel to Vietnam and do strenuous outdoor work in tropical heat, adding that Boseman's decision not to reveal his diagnosis was understandable - and even admirable - under the circumstances (via Variety).

“He did not look well, but my mind never took that he had cancer,” Lee said, adding, “I understand why Chadwick didn’t tell me because he didn’t want me to take it easy. If I had known, I wouldn’t have made him do the stuff. And I respect him for that.”