Regina King is mourning a past love.
The Oscar winner, 54, shared a tribute to her ex Malcolm-Jamal Warner the day after it was confirmed that the “Cosby Show” alum accidentally drowned on vacation in Costa Rica.
“Some people leave a lasting imprint, not just for who they were but for the energy they carried,” King wrote on her Instagram Stories Monday alongside a picture of Warner driving a motorcycle.
Regina King, Malcolm-Jamal Warner at the afterparty for the “This Christmas” premiere in 2007. Getty Images
“I’m sending prayers filled with love and understanding to your family and loved ones,” the actress continued. “Rest easy Malcolm-Jamal Warner.”
King shared a second picture of Warner standing up on the motorcycle with his hand in the air. “Ride in power,” she wrote.
Regina King posts a tribute to her ex Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Regina King/Instagram
Regina King and Malcolm-Jamal Warner dated for two years. Regina King/Instagram
The “Watchmen” actress dated Warner from 2011 to 2013. They met in the 1980s when Warner was on “The Cosby Show” and King was starring in a different NBC sitcom, “227.”
“Malcolm and I have a lot in common,” King told Essence in January 2011. “We’ve both been child actors and were also blessed to be raised by incredible mothers who instilled good values in us. Things are maturing nicely.”
Later that year, Warner told BET: “We like to protect what we have because it’s very special and very precious… But I will say that it’s a relationship that makes all the sense in the world.”
Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Regina King at the “This Christmas” premiere afterparty. FilmMagic, Inc
After two years of dating, Warner reportedly blindsided Warner by dumping her.
At the time, Us Weekly reported that Warner forced King and her son Ian Alexander Jr., who she shared with ex-husband Ian Alexander Sr., to move out of their house. (King’s son died by suicide in Jan. 2022 at the age of 26.)
In a March 2013 tweet, King denied that there was drama between herself and Warner.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Regina King, Shanice and Flex Alexander at Niecy Nash and Jay Tucker’s one-year wedding anniversary celebration in 2012. FilmMagic
“Hey everybody PLEASE don’t believe everything you read. Me & MalcolmJamalWar are good. Life happens. Forward motion. Godspeed,” she said at the time.
Two years later, King insinuated that she had a bad breakup with Warner in an interview with Us Weekly.
Regina King and Malcom Jamal Warner at a party for “Chopped” in New York City in 2009. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
“Someone broke up with me on Valentine’s. Yeah. I’m serious,” she claimed. “Then he actually sent me flowers that said, ‘I still love you,’ and I threw the flowers in the trash, and he was upset that I threw them in the trash, and I was like, ‘F–k you.’”
King didn’t name the person, but she said that people would “know” who he is.
Regina King at Paris Fashion Week in January 2025. Getty Images
Before dating King, Warner was in a relationship with actress Michelle Thomas, who played his girlfriend on “The Cosby Show.” He was reportedly by Thomas’ bedside when she died in 1998 of a desmoplastic tumor at 30.
Warner also dated actress Karen Malina White from 2000 to 2007.
At the time of his death, Warner was married and had a daughter. He kept his wife and their child out of the spotlight.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner in “The Cosby Show.” Courtesy Everett Collection
“If something happened and we weren’t together romantically, she would still be the person that I would want to raise a child with,” Warner said about his wife on a podcast in May.
The Emmy nominee was in Costa Rica with his family when he died on Sunday.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner attends Variety’s TV FYC Fest in 2023. Variety via Getty Images
Costa Rican National Police told The Post that Warner was pulled from the water by people in the area and taken to shore, where they desperately attempted to save his life.
His body was taken to the morgue at San Joaquin de Flores for an autopsy, with his cause of death listed as asphyxiation by “submersion,” police shared.
Bill Cosby and Malcolm-Jamal Warner in “The Cosby Show.” ©NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Warner has been remembered by many Hollywood stars including his “Malcolm & Eddie” co-star Eddie Griffin and his “Reed Between the Lines” co-star Tracee Ellis Ross.
Bill Cosby, who played Warner’s dad in the hit sitcom, also reacted to Warner’s death by comparing it to the passing of his son Ennis Cosby, who was murdered in 1997.
