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Home • Celebrity

Chadwick Boseman Gives ‘Best Hero’ Award To Waffle House Hero During MTV Movie Awards

Chadwick Boseman Gives ‘Best Hero’ Award To Waffle House Hero During MTV Movie Awards
Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
By Niki McGloster · Updated October 23, 2020
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Chadwick Boseman knows a superhero is no match for a real-life hero.

On Monday, the Black Panther star gave his MTV Movie Award for “Best Hero” to James Shaw Jr., the man who disarmed a gunman that killed four people in an Antioch, Tennessee Waffle House in April.

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“Receiving an award for playing a superhero is amazing, but it’s even greater to acknowledge the heroes that we have in real life,” Boseman said before inviting Shaw to the stage, CNN reports. “So I just want to acknowledge somebody that’s here today. James Shaw Jr. where are you? Stand. If you don’t know James Shaw Jr., he fought off a gunman in Antioch, Tennessee at a Waffle House. He saved lives. Come on up here.”

🍿🍿🍿 and more 🍿… THANK YOU #MTVAwards! #BlackPanther fans, you’re incredible. During the show, I was honored to meet @JamesShawJr9. He saved countless lives by tackling a gunman who opened fire on people in Antioch, Tennessee in April. He’s a true hero that walks among us. pic.twitter.com/bIF8vOk3v3

— Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) June 19, 2018

Shaw, 39, was grazed by a bullet and burned his right hand as he took down the shooter.

“I did that completely out of a selfish act,” he told reporters following the incident. “I was completely doing it just to save myself. I don’t want people to think that I was the Terminator or Superman or anybody like that.”

Shaw also launched a GoFundMe page to assist the shooting victims and their families. The $15,000 goal was surpassed multiple times over. He raised more than $241,000 dollars. A true hero indeed.