Entertainment
Malcolm-Jamal Warner Shared Powerful Message in Final Public Words Before His Death

NEED TO KNOW
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner shared a poignant message about “Black excellence” in his final podcast episode before his death
- The episode was published on July 18, just two days before the Cosby Show actor died in Costa Rica
- Authorities in Costa Rica ruled Warner’s death to be a result of asphyxia after he drowned off the coast
Malcolm Jamal-Warner had an important message to share in his final podcast episode before his death.
The actor, best known for playing Theo on The Cosby Show, died at 54 on Sunday, July 20, while on vacation with his family in Costa Rica.
Costa Rican National Police confirmed that Warner drowned off the coast, ABC News reported. His death was ruled to be a result of asphyxia, police told the outlet.
Just days prior to the tragedy, Warner released the latest episode of his podcast, Not All Hood, on Friday, July 18. He appeared on the episode alongside cohost Candace Kelly and guest Tameka “Georgia Me” Harper.
Warner spoke about how a recent interaction he had with Harper made him look at his podcast’s title in a new light.
The actor said he was speaking to Harper backstage after an event and, when telling her the podcast’s name, Not All Hood, he “couldn’t even finish my sentence and Georgia’s like, ‘Ain’t nothing wrong with the hood.'”
“It made me realize that there could be a misconception that we’re saying “not all hood” saying that the hood is bad, but the concept is what the media shows us is one side of Black culture, and it’s the hood side,” Warner explained. “The hood side, ultimately, historically, is what has always created American culture, right? It gets co-opted from the hood and then it becomes mainstream.”
He said Harper’s reaction reminded him “that the hood should be as celebrated as the rest of the lanes of Black culture.”
Warner also spoke about how his view of the term “Black excellence” has evolved over time.
The actor said that a recent conversation he had with a conservative-leaning friend about how Arlington National Cemetery is allegedly scrubbing information about Black soldiers from its website and educational materials, as reported by The Washington Post, led to this mindset shift.
“His take was, ‘If they were just considered American soldiers and not Black soldiers then they wouldn’t have to scrub their history,'” he said of his friend.
“And I said, ‘But if you take away the fact that they’re Black, you’re taking away the whole history of a point where they wouldn’t let Black men become soldiers. You’re taking away everything that Black soldiers had to do to persevere,'” he said of how he responded. “Black soldiers are hands-down the most patriotic people walking this Earth because Black military, these people are fighting for freedoms that they don’t even get to enjoy.”
Warner explained that he used to view terms like “Black excellence” as making it “a subset of that thing” by putting the term “Black” ahead of the word — until this conversation about Black soldiers.
“For the first time it made me thing of Black excellence in a different way,” he said. “Black excellence now is attributed to fame and money, so that’s been my issue with it. But now when I’m looking into the story, Black survival in of itself is Black excellence.”
Later, Warner spoke about his belief that Black people are playing in an “uneven playing field” in society, and what this struggle says about the members of his community.
“Everything that we have to muster, all of our resources — whether it be spiritual, whether it be relational, whether it be political to whatever extent — everything that we have had to muster just to play on this playing field is what makes us rich as Black people, as Black culture,” he said.
Warner’s podcast recently celebrated its one-year anniversary in June.
Speaking to PEOPLE ahead of the podcast’s debut last June, Warner said Not All Hood would show fans a “vulnerable” side of him that fans didn’t see on television.
“When we talk about the Black community, we tend to speak of it as a monolith when the reality is there are so many different facets of the Black community, and we wanted to have a space where we can really explore, discuss, and acknowledge all of those different aspects,” he said at the time.
“It’s been an interesting experience for me, because it’s a place where I feel safe enough to be able to be as vulnerable as I allow myself to be,” he added of the podcast.
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Warner is survived by his wife and daughter.
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