BET Awards: Taraji P. Henson Set As Host; Queen Latifah To Receive Career Honor

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Taraji P. Henson is set as host of the 2021 BET Awards, which will be handed out this month. BET also said today that Emmy winner and The Equalizer star Queen Latifah will receive the show’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

The in-person ceremony, whose theme this year is “Year of the Black Woman,” is set for 8 p.m. June 27 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. It will air live on BET.

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“For more than 20 years, the BET Awards have been a celebration of Black creativity, art and excellence,” said Henson, who starred on Fox’s Empire and will appear in NBC’s Annie Live! in December. “Returning live, this year’s show will be unlike anything we have ever seen before, and I am honored to be sharing the stage with so many powerful and prolific women in music and entertainment. The BET Awards will once again be at the forefront of Black culture.”

Grammy and Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Queen Latifah stars on CBS’ The Equalizer, and her recent projects include Girls Trip, Star, The Wiz Live! and Bessie. Among her scores of film and TV credits, she scored an Supporting Oscar nom for 2002’s Chicago, which won the Best Pic Academy Award. She also has four career Emmy nominations, winning for Outstanding TV Movie as a producer on Bessie.

Connie Orlando, EVP Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET, will oversee the BET Awards and serve as executive producer along with Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment.

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