The final tweet shared to Chadwick Boseman’s account has become the most-liked post in Twitter history.
The social media platform made the announcement following the sudden and shocking news of Boseman’s death, aged 43, from colon cancer. Boseman had not disclosed his diagnosis – made in 2016 – to the public.
The tweet announcing Boseman’s death was posted at 10:11 p.m. on Friday 28 August. At the time of writing, it had more than 6.4m “likes” and 3 million retweets.
“It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman. Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to stage IV,” the tweet announced.
“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,” the tweet said. “From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy.”
The tweet continued: “It was the honor of his career to bring King T'Challa to life in Black Panther.”
Twitter said in a statement: “Fans are coming together on Twitter to celebrate the life of Chadwick Boseman, and the tweet sent from his account last night is now the most-liked tweet of all time on Twitter.”
The tweet from Boseman’s account surpassed the previous record-holder from former US president Barack Obama, who shared the Nelson Mandela quote: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion.”
Obama’s tweet was posted on 12 August 2017 – the same day of a deadly car attack against people protesting white supremacy in Charlottesville, Va.
Twitter also noted that fans of Black Panther, in which Boseman starred, are working to organize “watch parties” using the hashtags #BlackPanther and #WakandaForever.
To help fans observe these events, the social media platform returned the use of the #BlackPanter emoji, “so fans can watch and talk about [Boseman’s] legacy together.”
Boseman's last personal tweet was that showing support for Kamala Harris:
“YES @KamalaHarris. #WhenWeAllVote #Vote2020”
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