Kevin Smith Shares Tribute to John Singleton

Beloved filmmaker John Singleton died Monday, more than a week after suffering a massive stroke. [...]

By Nicole Drum

Beloved filmmaker John Singleton died Monday, more than a week after suffering a massive stroke. Singleton, who was 51 at the time of his death, was known for films such as Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Shaft as well as for producing Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan. He was also an influence on many filmmakers who came after him, including Kevin Smith who took to Twitter to memorialize his friend in a touching social media post.

In the post, Smith noted that Singleton had inspired him before he made his first film and that he wished he could talk comics just one more time.

"Farewell my filmmaking friend!" Smith wrote. "Your Boyz story and your laser disc commentary inspired me back before I shot my first film. You made me believe I might be able to be like you: heard. Thank you for leading, John. Wish we had one last chance to talk comics again..."

Smith's tribute to Singleton isn't the only one to reference the filmmaker's love of comics and all things geek. Former Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker said in a series of tweets that Singleton was a "Jedi level geek".

"John Singleton was a Jedi level geek. The only thing more fun than seeing a Marvel or Star Wars movie was arguing with him about it: shot for shot. Line for line. Seeing Endgane [sic] with him would have been a blast. That gleam in his eye. That cackle. He would have loved it," Coker wrote.

"Any other week, if I was in town, I'd be like 'Let's go see that s— at the Dome, n—." 3 hours for the movie and 5 hours for the conversation. You can't really talk about it until you've seen it twice."

Coker continued, "One of the most important things John taught me was to never lose the spark, the child like enthusiasm that seeing a film elicits. You want to make films? Watxh [sic] film. All the time. And write. Especially when you don't feel like it."

"Even though I don't feel like it, I'm writing today," Coker concluded. "Wishing he would text me to say, 'Can i see it yet? When are you sending it?'"

Singleton suffered a massive stroke on April 17 and was placed on life support. Earlier in the day on Monday, his family shared that they would be removing him from life support.

"It is with heavy hearts we announce that our beloved son, father and friend, John Daniel Singleton will be taken off of life support today," a spokesperson for the family told Deadline on Monday. "This was an agonizing decision, one that our family made, over a number of days, with the careful counsel of John's doctors."

Singleton has reportedly struggled with hypertension, and his family's goal is to share the message with everyone and help others recognize the symptoms earlier by going to Heart.org.

"We are grateful to his fans, friends and colleagues for the outpour of love and prayers during this incredibly difficult time," the spokesperson said. "We want to thank all the doctors at Cedars Sinai for the impeccable care he received."

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