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Youth channel MTV has dedicated its Video Music Awards show on Sunday to Chadwick Boseman, calling the “Black Panther” star, whose death last week at age 43 shocked fans around the world, a “true hero.” 

Opening the annual ceremony dedicated to the best in pop music, host Keke Palmer called Boseman “an actor whose talent and passion is a true inspiration to all the fans he touched, and everyone he encountered.”

“We dedicate tonight’s show to a man whose spirit touched so many. He’s a true hero, not just on screen, but everything he did. His impact lives forever,” Palmer said.

The VMA awards show on Sunday also ran clips of Boseman accepting an MTV Movie Award in 2018 for his role as king of the fictional African kingdom Wakanda in “Black Panther,” and aired a black screen with the words “Rest in Power.”