Chadwick Boseman quietly fought for his life while working his heart out for four years, and the announcement Friday that he'd lost that fight took fans by surprise, shook them, and broke a record. "Fans are coming together on Twitter to celebrate the life of Chadwick Boseman, and the tweet sent from his account last night [read it here] is now the most liked tweet of all time on Twitter," said Twitter on Saturday, per Variety. As of this writing, the tweet has been liked 6.6 million times and retweeted 3 million times. Twitter also brought back the Black Panther emoji "so fans can watch and talk about his legacy together."
CNN notes that the new runner-up in terms of most likes is one Barack Obama, who tweeted a Nelson Mandela quote in 2017 in the wake of the deadly attack in Charlottesville, Va., that racked up 4.3 million likes and 1.6 million retweets. Obama was among those paying tribute to Boseman Saturday, tweeting, "Chadwick came to the White House to work with kids when he was playing Jackie Robinson. You could tell right away that he was blessed. To be young, gifted, and Black; to use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it all while in pain – what a use of his years." (More Chadwick Boseman stories.)