Angela Bassett has finally spoken out about her son’s public apology after he pranked the 61-year-old into believing her “Black Panther” co-star Michael B. Jordan had passed away.
While being interviewed by “Entertainment Tonight” reporter Denny Directo at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Creative Impact Awards on Friday, Jan. 6, Bassett was asked if her son, Slater Vance, learned any valuable lessons behind the scenes after attempting TikTok’s viral death hoax trend.
“The teachable lesson is we all make mistakes. Own up to them, take responsibility and then hold your head up and move forward.” Bassett shared.
Vance, whom Bassett shares with husband Courtney B. Vance, began negatively trending throughout social media after he recorded himself telling his parents that Jordan had died as part of a worldwide TikTok trend where children lie to their family members by stating that their favorite celebrity passed away.
The 16-year-old definitely owned up to his mistake by uploading a 53-second video apologizing for partaking in this controversial trend and expressing his understanding of how this prank hurt his family and possibly Jordan.
“I apologize for any hurt that my actions may have caused Mr. Jordan, or my parents, or anyone else who could have been involved in this and I am truly and sincerely sorry and I apologize.” Vance stated in his apology clip.
Many fans found this prank unfunny due to the “Black Panther” cast previously losing their original leader and fictional Wakandian leader, Chadwick Boseman, from colon cancer back in August 2020.
Bassett has been very vocal about her as well as the cast’s grieving process while filming the movie’s sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
In an October interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bassett admitted that she went through heavy moments of grief during certain scenes as she filmed the sequel. One scene in particular was when Bassett’s character, T’Challa’s mother Queen Ramonda, had to sit on his throne due to him no longer being able to.
She explained, “It was very daunting, it was very important. We held it in great reverence,”
It was also revealed that the cast visited Boseman’s gravesite before filming the sequel.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” did well at the box office by making $800 million worldwide and also became the “sixth-highest grossing movie in 2022,” according to Variety.
