“Hollywood needs to know that this is what diversity is supposed to look like,” said Anthony Anderson during his opening speech at the 47th Annual NAACP Image Awards.
Anderson was this year’s host and he kicked off the ceremony by rapping about the lack of racial diversity at other awards shows. His group Nominees With Attitudes took the stage in an uplifting performance making light of racial diversity. Diversity was a major theme this year because of the Oscars boycott that is going on.
Will Smith, Jada Smith and Spike Lee, who have all been very vocal about not attending the Oscars, were at the NAACP Image Awards.
However, the star of the evening was none other than Michael B. Jordan. He took home the award for outstanding actor in a motion picture for his role as Apollo Creed’s son and he also received entertainer of the year. In his acceptance speech, he stated,“I used to sneak into the Image Awards and now I’m standing here as the entertainer of the year, which is mind blowing.”
Of course Black-ish swept the TV comedy categories with Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross winning outstanding actor and actress. The show also took home the award for outstanding comedy series. On the drama side, Empire dominated with multiple wins as well. Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson won best actor and actress along with the show winning for outstanding drama series. In her acceptance speech, Henson said, “We don’t need to ask for acceptance from anyone. We are enough.”
You can see the full list of winners on E! news and watch the full show on youtube.
– Emily Aikens
