As Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow, Tenisha Warner, and their 9-year-old daughter MacKenzie navigate a life without "The Cosby Show" alum, a close friend is asking the public for financial support.
Tenisha Warner's friend Destiny Rael created a GoFundMe page to help ease what she described as the financial strain facing the mother and daughter following the July 2025 fatal drowning of the "Malcolm & Eddie" actor off the coast of Costa Rica at age 54.
"I am organizing this campaign because I have witnessed, up close, the depth of Tenisha’s grief and the weight she has had to carry, and because I know she would never ask for this kind of support herself, so I am asking on her behalf," Rael wrote in the page's description.
Rael continued: "I stayed with
Tenisha when she finally returned home after Malcolm’s tragic accident, only to find the house she and her husband built packed into boxes after unexpected flooding. She is rebuilding not only her life without him, but the very home they created together."
The page, created on Aug. 11, has received more than $41,000 as of Aug. 21. According to the fundraiser, donations will be used to "ease the financial strain, cover the expenses she is now facing, and provide security for Tenisha and her daughter as they work toward resolving Malcolm’s affairs."
The Emmy-nominee and Tenisha Warner met in 2015 and welcomed their child in 2017. They officially married in 2022.
Funds will support Tenisha amid Malcolm-Jamal Warner estate battle
The money will also help Tenisha Warner during her legal dispute surrounding her late husband's estate with his mother Pamela Warner, according to the fundraising page.
"Every room holds their memories, with no space to truly mourn, because the demands have never paused: legal matters that began within weeks of Malcolm’s passing, financial weight carried alone, a house to put back together, and their daughter to care for every single day," the description continues. "She has stretched every resource she has and borrowed from people who love her just to keep one foot in front of the other."
Pamela Warner has reached a proposed settlement with representatives for her 9-year-old granddaughter amid an ongoing dispute over the late actor's estate. The agreement would provide Warner's daughter with the majority remainder of the Warner Family Trust and estate but remains subject to court approval, Pamela Warner's attorneys said.
Tenisha is not included in the agreement, USA TODAY understands.
Under the Warner Family Trust established in 1996, 70% of Malcolm-Jamal Warner's assets were left to Pamela Warner, 15% to his late father, Robert Warner Jr., and 15% to his half-sister Collage, according to a legal petition Tenisha filed on July 20.
Tenisha has argued that the decades-old trust, created before she met her husband, does not adequately provide for her or their daughter and does not reflect Malcolm-Jamal Warner's intentions.
"He was close to finalizing a new estate plan to replace the stale plan created in 1996 when he was 26 years old, 20 years before we met and well before we gave birth to our beautiful daughter. Sadly, he was unable to do so before we lost him," she wrote.
A representative for Pamela Warner denied attempting to withhold funds from her granddaughter in an Aug. 13 statement obtained by USA TODAY. "Pamela continues to grieve the sudden loss of her son, Malcolm. She remains focused on protecting his legacy and the well-being of his daughter and family," the statement read.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow gets fundraiser amid fight over his estate
