Chadwick Boseman’s agent reveals why late actor kept his cancer a secret

‘Black Panther’ star’s death came as huge shock to many who worked with him

Chadwick Boseman’s death last month came as a major shock to the film industry, and his agent has now revealed why he kept his cancer diagnosis a secret.

The Black Panther star died of colon cancer aged 43 on Friday 28 August. He had been diagnosed with the illness in 2016.

Many people had not known he was unwell, including his on-screen sister Letitia Wright. In a moving eulogy for her co-star, she said: “I wish I got to say goodbye, I messaged you a couple times but I thought you were just busy. I didn’t know you were dealing with so much.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, only a “tight-knit” circle of friends and Boseman’s team were aware of his diagnosis. Michael Greene, Boseman’s agent, explained the actor’s reasoning for not telling more people, revealing it partly came down to lessons Boseman had learned from his mother, Carolyn.

″[She] always taught him not to have people fuss over him,” said Greene. “He also felt in this business that people trip out about things, and he was a very, very private person.”

Chadwick Boseman and Letitia Wright (Getty Images)

Greene also spoke about the forthcoming Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, saying that Boseman was experiencing “hard-core pain” during filming.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom also stars Viola Davis. The film highlights the racist exploitation of black artists and the struggle to combat institutional oppression in the 1920s.