FILM & TV

Taraji P. Henson Set to Host This Year’s BET Awards

Taraji P. Henson will host the 2021 BET Awards premiering later this month. The award show will be held with an in-person audience and on June 27 at 8 p.m. at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and will air live on BET.
Kwaku Alston / NBC

Taraji P. Henson will host the 2021 BET Awards premiering later this month. The award show will be held with an in-person audience on June 27 at 8 p.m. at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and will air live on BET. 

“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.”

The show will be female-centric, as the theme for this year’s show is “Year of the Black Woman.” One of many honorees of the evening is Queen Latifah, who will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Queen Latifah is an Emmy and Grammy Award Winner, as well as an Oscar nominee. Known for her roles in Girls Trip, Star, Bessie, and CBS’s The Equalizer, the actress, producer, and singer has an illustrious career worthy of recognition. 

The 2021 BET Awards will be executive produced by Connie Orlando, EVP Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET, and Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment.