Who is Candace Kelley? Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s podcast co-host gets emotional over final email from the actor

Friends, fans and colleagues of The Cosby Show star Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who died suddenly at the age of 54, are in shock, including his Not All Hood podcast co-host Candace Kelley, who shared a touching final message Warner sent to her.

A few days before he tragically drowned in Costa Rica on July 20, 2025, Warner sent Kelley a long email from his flight, detailing his thoughts on the future of their podcast.

"I spoke to him on Friday before he left... He wrote me this long, five-paragraph email from the plane, which is so strange. I’m like, ‘[You’re going to] Costa Rica.’ But, now that I’m going back to reading it, I’m very glad he did."  Kelley told Us Weekly.

Five-time Emmy Award nominee Candace Kelley has had a diverse career as a legal commentator, professor, and a broadcaster. According to her Linkedin bio, she has worked at larger networks such as NBC Universal, Court TV and BET, reporting on major court cases like those involving the police officer Derek Chauvin and the singer R. Kelly.

This week on Not all Hood, our hosts Malcolm-Jamal Warner & Candace Kelley sit down with Jamila Sams to discuss the power of hip-hop in education. Check out this teaser. Are we preparing our kids to thrive or just survive?#NotAllHood #HipHopCurriculum #EducationMatters pic.twitter.com/LqbzkZyM9r

— Nah_Notallhood (@NAH_notallhood) March 11, 2025

She is an associate professor at Rowan University, where she teaches media law and ethics. Her collaboration with Warner on Not All Hood reinforced their common goal of using media to teach and motivate.

Kelley remembered Warner’s caring nature, noting how he would regularly inquire about how she was doing. “We had such big plans,” she said, lamenting the loss of their unfinished work.

"I was immediately struck by just how brilliant and thoughtful he was on a range of topics. He was more than an entertainer, he was us," Kelley wrote on her Instagram stories.

Candace Kelley opens up about her work and future planned projects with Malcolm-Jamal Warner

In June 2024, Warner and Candace Kelley debuted Not All Hood, a podcast centered around removing the stigma around the African-American community in America through open dialogue. In a final email, Warner wrote about his dedication to growing the show’s reach.

"He had a serious commitment to his community and to his family and to his own personal legacy of what was right from wrong to make sure that the tropes of Black people that have been out there that he used his power to stamp them out," Kelley said.

 

 

 

 

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Candace Kelley, a veteran journalist and law professor, stated that Warner was deeply introspective about his public image. At one point, he supposedly texted her, as she recalled:

"[He wrote] I want to make sure that I’m not being that. I want to make sure that how I’m being perceived is the way that I want.’ And I said, ‘OK'." 

She had told him not to worry about talking too much about his wife and daughter on the podcast, “His family [was] the light of his life,” she said, and stated that he was very proud of his daughter.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s email, composed on the way to a family vacation, now serves as a last goodbye not to Kelley. Though the journey ended in tragedy, Candace Kelley stated that she takes some comfort in his final words.