Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s widow Tenisha Warner has confirmed her identity and addressed the public for the first time since “The Cosby Show” actor’s death.
Tenisha Warner, who married Malcolm-Jamal Warner in 2017, posted a wedding photo and a statement on Instagram on Friday, which was the eve of their wedding anniversary.
“Thank you for holding us in so much love during this tender time,” Warner wrote in the caption. “For the first time, I’m sharing a glimpse of the love that began it all. I can still hear my husband’s laugh, still feel the way he made room for every part of me — every tear, every dream.”
Warner also announced that she and her daughter are launching the Warner Family Foundation and River & Ember in the late actor’s honor.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who portrayed Theo Huxtable on the beloved family sitcom for eight seasons, died in July at age 54. Warner drowned at the beach while on vacation with his family in Costa Rica.
The Television Academy tapped Warner’s TV mom Phylicia Rashad for a tribute to the one-time Emmy nominee to kick off the “In Memoriam” segment at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sunday.
“He was a beloved teenager in an iconic television series who the world watched grow into manhood,” Rashad said onstage at the Peacock Theater, “and like all our friends and colleagues who transitioned this past year, Malcolm-Jamal Warner remains in our hearts.”
Although he was happy in his marriage, Warner had kept the identities of his wife and daughter private prior to his death.
“We’ve been together almost 10 years,” he said during a podcast appearance in May. “We’ve never had a fight, an argument, a raised voice or a harsh word. Not that we’ve always agreed. We’re just at a point where we have a way of communicating.”
Tenisha Warner said in her Instagram statement that River & Ember is about carrying that love they shared forward.
“River & Ember was born … from my own journey with grief and love,” she wrote about her new company. “Through story and ritual, I hope to offer families the same gifts he gave us: a sense of being held, and a reminder that even in life’s changing seasons, our inner light is worth tending.”
River & Ember will offer seasonal toolkits of stories, rituals and art for parents and children. The Warner Family Foundation will offer scholarships to young artists.
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