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Forest Whitaker’s Ex-Wife Passes Away at 51

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(Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TWC)

Keisha Nash Whitaker, Award-winning actor/producer Forest Whitaker’s ex-wife, Keisha Nash Whitaker, was married to actor Forest Whitaker for more than 20 years, has passed away. She was 51 and no details on cause or location were immediately available.

Nash Whitaker’s credits include the 2004 film Proud. A former model, she was also the host of the TLC reality competition show, Who Are You Wearing? which aired for one season.

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Forest Whitaker and Nash Whitaker met on the set of the 1994 film “Blown Away” and were married for 22 years. They had two children together, True (age 25) and Sonnet Whitaker, who is 27. Nash Whitaker also had another child, Autumn, from a prior relationship.

The couple were married for 22 years and had two children together, True and Sonnet Whitaker. Nash Whitaker also had another child, Autumn, from a prior relationship, while Forest had his son Ocean.

Because of her extremely skinny, frail-looking frame, many people on social media speculated that Keisha may have passed away from anorexia.

True, the 25-year-old daughter of Nash and Forest Whitaker, has been sharing on Instagram posts about her beloved mother. She also addressed the anorexia rumor.

In a follow-up post, True shut down a rumor related to Nash’s death, which she described as being “not relevant to my mother.”

“Going to say this one thing and then ask for space while my family heals,” the actress wrote on her Instagram Story Friday. “There have been statements from STRANGERS claiming the cause of my mom’s death.”

“My mom DID NOT suffer from anorexia, although my heart goes out to those who do,” she added.

Causes for a Person Being Underweight

A person may become underweight for many different reasons. He/she may be born naturally small and but low BMI can be due to geneology. You may have a very high metabolism and find it hard to put on weight, even if you eat foods that have a lot of calories.

Someone may not follow a healthy, balanced diet because he or she may forget to eat or cannot afford nutritious foods. They might find it hard to eat properly because they are sick, or the medicines make them feel nauseous. If a person does a lot of physical activity it may burn up more calories than they can eat, leading to them to be underweight.

Some physical conditions can cause weight loss, leading to underweight. These include:

  • stomach problems, such as nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea
  • an infection
  • cancer, HIV or lung disease
  • diabetes
  • thyroid problems
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Mental health problems can also cause someone to be underweight. These include:

    • anxiety and stress
    • eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa
    • dementia

    People who have been ill, in hospital or who are older are at an increased risk of being underweight.

    True, who has continued to post throwback images of Nash on her Instagram Story since sharing the news of her death, then elaborated on her wishes.

    “I ask for respect and space and for those to not speculate and fabricate facts about her life,” she wrote. “And to those who have been nothing by supportive to my family and I, thank you from the bottom of our heart.”

    Forest, who received an Oscar, a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance in 2006’s “The Last King of Scotland,” filed to divorce Nash Whitaker in 2018, citing irreconcilable differences.

    Nash Whitaker’s X (formerly Twitter) account, which Forest Whitaker follows, has not been active since 2020. In recent years, she mostly retweeted Whitaker’s posts, accounts promoting his work and his nonprofit, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative.

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