Forest Whitaker and Family Mourn His Ex-Wife Keisha Nash at Celebration of Life in L.A.: 'She Was Amazing'

Mar. 15, 2025

Keisha Nash in 2014.Photo:Frazer Harrison/Getty

Frazer Harrison/Getty

Keisha Nashis being remembered as an “amazing” person.

Nash’s memorial service saw guests greeted with a program and an orange butterfly clip — a touch that honored Nash’s love of butterflies — while photographs of her with her children and loved ones lined the walls of the stairs, alongside a beautiful candle display.

Keisha Nash’s celebration of life event.Danielle Bacher

Danielle Bacher

Celebrity performance coach and neuropsychologist Joseph McClendon welcomed attendees to the event space, as guests took their seats at circular tables with white tablecloths, white candles and white flowers.

To begin proceedings, McClendon delivered a moving speech, where he acknowledged the loss the departure of a loved one leaves.

“At least for today, I’d like to submit and suggest something else that Keisha didn’t leave something. She gave us a gift and the gift was her memories,” he said.

McClendon then suggested that guests buy journals and engrave Nash’s name across them. “And in it for the next 10 days at least write down your memories,” he said, explaining that the gesture would “create a legacy on paper” and that “the memories that she gave us will become alive and that becomes her legacy that you go forward with as well.”

True, Whitaker and Nash’s father also gave moving speeches, along with many good friends of the late mother of four.

As she spoke to guests, True acknowledged that she was “angry and sad” that her mother was not physically with them.

However, she said that those feelings would “never equate to the amount of pride and honor that I feel to have been your daughter, to be your daughter, to have had the opportunity to learn from you, to watch you, to mirror you and to love you.”

True then shared that she listens to her late mother’s voice in her dreams and searches for the scent of her perfume, before she expressed her gratitude for Nash, telling her that with “every moment of success and every tear that I drop, I’ll know that you’ll be there guiding me.”

Speaking directly to her mother, she added that she promises to be “the best version of who you raised me to be.”

Whitaker then spoke of his late ex-wife to guests, sharing memories of Halloween with Nash and “how cinnamon and all the smells [were] wild.”

The actor — who married Nash in 1996 before they divorced in 2018 — told guests that his ex-wife “was trying to write a book about celebration of everyday glamour. She was like, ‘This book going to show how you could make every moment of your life a glamorous one, a special one, a special moment to be cherished and to be held.’ " he explained before thanking those in attendance for being part of a moment for Nash.

He ended his speech with a joyful, touching message: “And the celebration continues on. She was amazing. We all love her.”

Guests then stepped outside to watch a butterfly release with family and friends of Nash. After the ceremony, food including fried chicken, collard greens, sweet potato mash and mac and cheese was served to attendees.

Keisha Nash and Forest Whitaker in 2013.Jim Spellman/WireImage

Jim Spellman/WireImage

True confirmed her mother’s death in an Instagram Story she shared on her account last month.

Keisha’s daughter also wrote in a follow-up post, “I ask for respect and space and for those to not speculate and fabricate facts about her life… My mom DID NOT suffer from anorexia, although my heart goes out to those who do.”

She added, “To those who have been nothing [but] supportive to my family and I, thank you from the bottom of our heart.”

source: people.com