Chadwick Boseman’s Widow Fires Back at Family’s Legal Battle, Calling It a Calculated PR Move

A family feud over one of Hollywood's most beloved late stars has escalated into a heated courtroom showdown. Newly filed documents now offer a detailed breakdown of where the money went and who allegedly stood in the way.

Chadwick Boseman's widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, is firing back after the late "Black Panther" star's family filed a lawsuit against her over his estate. The actor's brothers, Kevin and Derrick Boseman, are seeking to have her removed as its administrator.

In new documents, filed on Thursday, September 24, in a Los Angeles court and obtained by Page Six, Taylor alleged that the brothers' push to remove her as administrator of Chadwick's estate is a "public-relations stunt to smear [her] in the tabloid press."

She is disputing earlier claims made by Derrick and Kevin, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of their parents, Leroy and Carolyn. The family alleged in a July lawsuit that the late star's wife had failed to properly distribute her husband's estate as ordered by a court in 2022.

However, Taylor says she has distributed every penny, apart from one account that the brothers themselves blocked, and that she has been especially generous toward his family.

In a scathing legal response, Taylor's lawyer, Adam Streisand, wrote in court documents, "Simone has not only complied with the Order, but as a product solely of her own extraordinary generosity, she has gone well beyond what was required of her."

"Simone's generosity has been both financial and collaborative. She has always included the Boseman family in her efforts to ensure Chadwick's memory would endure and flourish long after her husband's tragic and untimely death," the papers went on to state.

"This is how the family repays her: a Petition replete with falsehoods under oath, purposefully used as a public-relations stunt to smear Simone in the tabloid press, not to mention the collateral damage it has caused to her husband's legacy."

Adam also called the petition a "baseless attack" on Taylor "by Chadwick's brothers (who are not among Chadwick's legal heirs) cloaked with authority by their ailing parents (who, along with Simone, are the rightful heirs)," urging, "[This lawsuit] must be denied."

The new filing further claims that Chadwick's brothers had previously threatened Taylor with litigation while she was "struggling with her grief" around the first anniversary of the star's 2020 death.

"Five years later, without even a hint of concern or complaint, the brothers' lawsuit — including many of its false allegations — was somehow reported in detail by TMZ before Simone knew a thing about it," the documents continue.

The filing claims that Taylor has "distributed all of the assets of Chadwick's Estate save one account Petitioners themselves blocked from distribution."

Those assets include $151,558.00 in a Bank of America account, 100 shares of Chadwick Boseman, Inc. valued at $3,396,969.00, a $40,000 life insurance policy, another bank account holding $241,180.75, and even "Unclaimed property, valued at $0.88."

According to the documents, a $300,000 IRA remains undistributed because, Taylor claims, the funds were frozen by the brothers' earlier legal action. Meanwhile, the court papers state that she voluntarily gifted more than $300,000 of her own money to Derrick's four children.

"Simone's generosity is hardly consistent with an administrator who is blocking the final distribution of the Estate to deprive Petitioners' parents of what they're entitled to, as Petitioners would have this Court believe," the filing reads.

Adam maintains that Taylor has managed her late husband's estate "transparently and in consultation with Petitioners," despite their "claims of concealment and mismanagement."

The legal battle stems from Chadwick's death on August 28, 2020, at the age of 43. The actor, who died without a will, had privately battled colon cancer for years.