Jaleel White Reacts To Malcolm Jamal Warner Death

Buzz Feed

23-07-2025

This week, news broke that Malcolm-Jamal Warner had tragically died in a drowning accident in Costa Rica.
According to ABC News, the actor was swimming on Sunday afternoon when he was caught in a rip current. He was pulled to the shore and given CPR for 45 minutes, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. He was 54.
Later that night, Jaleel White was asked about Malcolm's death at the premiere of Happy Gilmore 2. The two were, of course, television icons in the '90s, with Malcolm starring on The Cosby Show and Jaleel on Family Matters.
"I'd be remiss not to ask you," the reporter, who was representing Extra, began. "Obviously, today we heard the news of Malcolm-Jamal Warner as well. You guys [were] both on TV around the same time. Just, what does that mean to his impact and to The Cosby Show's impact?"
Jaleel, appearing visibly shaken, replied, "I mean, Malcolm and I were industry peers. I mean, really, I can't even say that. Like, I grew up looking up to him. He was ahead of me in the game."
"I'm kind of waiting for more details to come out because it was just a very disturbing report...Just accidentally this. But I don't know," Jaleel said, pausing as he struggled to find words to describe the loss. "You kind of caught me at a loss for words and kind of reflecting on my own memories."
Jaleel went on to recall his "close" friendship with Malcolm — including their shared connection to Michelle Thomas, the late actor who had dated Malcolm and appeared on The Cosby Show and Family Matters before dying of cancer in 1998. "Malcolm was like the first former child actor that my mother even let me go out with late at night past 11 p.m.," Jaleel recalled, "and I had a very close relationship with him, both him and Michelle Thomas. May they both rest in peace."
Later on, he also took to Instagram to correct an error made in news coverage on Malcolm's death. On Monday, Us Weekly appeared to share an X post that said, "Hollywood is mourning The Cosby Show actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who died on Sunday, July 20, at age 54" — except the thumbnail used a photo of Jaleel.
Sharing a screenshot of the apparent blunder on his Instagram account, Jaleel wrote, "All for clicks? @usweekly 🤷 Cmon Guys, fix this." As of writing, it appears the post has since been removed. You can see Jaleel's post below.