"He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices."
Winners and losers, best and worst dressed, highlights and lowlights all suddenly didn't matter on Sunday night when Chadwick Boseman posthumously won Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama.
Accepting the award on the late actor's behalf was his widow Taylor Simone Ledward, who like the vast majority of those watching, could not contain her tears.
"He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices," she said through sobs.
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View StoryWearing a resplendent gold gown, she tragically sat alone at her home, while listing off his "incredible team" by name, as well as his co-stars, in the gut-wrenchingly raw moment.
"He would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside all of us that tells you you can, that tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history," she said.
Presenter Renee Zellweger and co-star Viola Davis were among those struggling to hold it together as Taylor valiantly continued.
"I don't have his words," Taylor concluded. "But we have to take all the moment to celebrate those we love so thank you HFPA for this opportunity to do exactly that."
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View Story"And hon' — you keep 'em coming," she told Chadwick. "Thank you."
Boseman died on August 28 of colon cancer, an illness he had kept secret from everyone bar his closest friends and family.
An example of his impact was evident earlier in the show when a group of very young children were interviewed about the Golden Globes, providing hilariously wacky responses to every question as children are wont to do.
But one question they uniformly answered correctly across the board was "who is Chadwick Boseman?" to which each one replied: "the Black Panther."