Jamie Foxx has paid tribute to Michael K Williams following the actor’s death earlier this month.
Taking to Instagram, Foxx said “it took me a minute to gather my thoughts and emotions. I wanted to do right by you with my words. I wanted to let you know that you are beloved.”
“We broke bread not long ago. We talked about art, we talked about acting. You spoke of your mother in such a powerful and endearing way, about how she was your biggest fan,” he continued.
“I was always in awe of your performances. How could you be so grounded, so real.”
Foxx then goes on to talk about a Oswald Boteng fashion show they were both at. “We saw this beautiful chiseled black man and then we realized it was you. We jumped to our feet. We not only applauded the way you poured into the suit flawlessly, we cheered because we knew you were special. Fearlessness, mystique and pure raw talent was before us. It was soul stirring, angelic.”
Williams was found dead in his home in Brooklyn, New York on September 6 by his nephew, according to the New York Post.
Drug paraphernalia was reportedly found in Williams’ apartment, but no cause of death has been officially confirmed yet.
“It is with deep sorrow that the family announces the passing of Emmy nominated actor Michael K Williams,” the actor’s long-time representative Marianna Shafran told The Hollywood Reporter.
“They ask for your privacy while grieving this insurmountable loss.”
Tributes have also come in from filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who worked with Williams on When They See Us, and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn, who called Williams “one of the most talented actors around”.
The Wire creator David Simon has also penned an open essay in tribute to Williams.
“A short remembrance for a talent, a genuine collaborator and a true friend,” he wrote. “What I hope never gets lost is the awareness that Mike genuinely wanted his work to matter; not for fame or reward, but for leaving us all better humans in its wake.”
