Warner, who was best known for his role on “The Cosby Show,” drowned on a beach in Costa Rica on Sunday, according to local authorities.
Beyoncé has featured a dedication to Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the “Cosby Show” actor who died Sunday in Costa Rica, on her personal website.
A brief tribute to Warner and a black-and-white photograph of him as a child were featured on the homepage of Beyonce.com on Tuesday. “Rest in power, Malcolm-Jamal Warner,” the website reads in all caps. “Thanks for being a big part of our shared television history. I will miss you.” Warner, 54, drowned Sunday after he was swept out to sea in Costa Rica, according to local authorities.
A source close to Warner said that he was on vacation with his wife and young daughter and that the incident appears to have been accidental. According to the source, Warner’s wife was attempting to return his body to the United States for a funeral as of Monday night. In a statement released on Monday, the Judicial Investigation Department of Costa Rica stated that Warner was swimming at Playa Cocles in the Limón province when a current pulled him deeper into the water. Bystanders at the scene pulled Warner out of the water, but first responders from Costa Rica’s Red Cross found him unresponsive.
The Costa Rican Red Cross said in a statement that a second man was taken to a hospital in critical condition from the “water incident.”
Warner was in “The Cosby Show” on NBC, which helped break down stereotypes and make Black Americans more visible in the media. From 1984 to 1992, he played Theo Huxtable, Cosby’s son. He went on to star in several popular television series of the late 1990s and early 2000s centered on Black characters, including “Malcolm & Eddie” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Additionally, Warner directed a number of episodes of “All That” and “Kenan & Kel.” In addition to Beyoncé, Hollywood and other well-known Black celebrities, such as Earvin “Magic” Johnson, expressed their sorrow at Warner’s passing. Tracee Ellis Ross posted images of herself and Warner on Instagram on Monday. The pair starred in the BET sitcom “Reed Between the Lines” from 2011 to 2015.
“It breaks my heart so much. She wrote, “What a friend and actor you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant.” “You made the world a brighter place.”
Holly Robinson Peete, whose father wrote and produced “The Cosby Show,” also posted an image of herself with Warner on Instagram on Monday.
She wrote, “He was always gracious, kind, funny, and gave the best hugs.” “Even if you haven’t met him, you feel as though you knew him. He was so beloved by everyone.” In a statement, Geoffrey Owens, who played Elvin Tibideaux on “The Cosby Show,” said that Warner’s death left him “speechless.” “Malcolm was a lovely man with a tender heart. He stated, “His genuine love for the act of creation was one of the many reasons I respected him.” “He had the mind of an actor and the heart of a musician.”
Beyoncé has previously dedicated a section of her website to notable Black American deaths. In 2023, she honored a 28-year-old gay man, O’Shae Sibley, who was dancing to her music just before being stabbed to death in Brooklyn, New York.
