Bill Cosby breaks silence after The Cosby Show star Malcolm-Jamal Warner dies suddenly aged 54

Bill Cosby has reacted to the sad news about his on-screen son's sudden passing.

News broke yesterday (July 21) that Malcolm-Jamal Warner has died at the age of 54 in what's said to have been an accidental drowning, according to authorities.

Warner, who starred in TV shows like The Cosby Show, The Resident, Suits, and Malcolm & Eddie, was in Costa Rica at the time of his death.

As per Associated Press, he had been swimming at Playa Cocles in Limon province when a current pulled him deeper into the ocean, with Costa Rica’s national police saying the actor died of asphyxia.

Tributes have been pouring in for Warner from his celebrity friends in the wake of his unexpected passing.

Fast & Furious actor Tyrese Gibson penned a poem titled 'The Gentle Giant' in a tear-jerking tribute to his late friend.

Malcom-Jamal Warner has died at the age of 54 (Paras Griffin/Getty Images for SCAD aTVfest 2020)

Part of it read: "Today, we lost a gentle giant. A man who won our hearts not by force, but by quiet grace. From the very beginning, Malcolm-Jamal Warner reminded us that being calm, classy, sophisticated, and soulful could carry you far in life.

"He was the soft-spoken strength behind a generation’s most beloved show.

"We watched The Cosby Show and saw, for the first time, a world many of us had never known. A Black family made up of doctors, lawyers, artists, and thinkers. A household rooted in love, education, laughter, and dignity."

Elsewhere, his The Cosby Show co-star Adam Sandler, who also got his big break on the series, told Entertainment Tonight that he couldn't believe that Warner had died.

"Malcolm was so nice to me when I was on the show," he shared. "We had such good times together."

Now, Andrew Wyatt, a representative for Cosby himself, has shared how the 88-year-old reacted to the heartbreaking news.

Warner and Cosby played father-son duo Cliff and Theodore Huxtable on the show (Jacques M. Chenet/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Cosby starred as Cliff Huxtable on the well-loved 80s sitcom, while Warner played his teenage son Theodore. The series ran for eight seasons.

Wyatt told TMZ: "When Bill got the call that Warner died on vacation in Costa Rica, it reminded him of being in the studio filming The Cosby Show in January 1997, when he got a call informing him that his son Ennis Cosby was shot dead in a failed robbery attempt."

Cosby is also said to have spoken to Phylicia Rashad, who starred as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, following Warner's tragic passing and the pair 'reminisced about Malcolm'.

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