The recently concluded 2017 Bet Awards, held at the Microsoft Theaters in Los Angeles, was an epic celebration for African Americans and other minorities for their achievements in acting, music, sport, and entertainment. The event was well attended by the biggest names in entertainment with a host of performances by artists such as Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.
Nominations and winners
The leading artists to gather the most nominations at the awards event included singers Beyoncé and Bruno Mars. Beyoncé accumulated a total of seven nominations including nominations for Best Female, Best Viewer's Choice, Video of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Bruno Mars closely followed with five nominations, which includes nominations for Album of the Year, Best Male, and Video of the Year.
Beyonce won the Best Female Artist and Viewer's Choice Award, while also nabbing the Video Director of the Year, Video of the Year, and the Album of the year award. The Best Group award went to the hip-hop trio, Migos, while Kendrick Lamar was named Best Male Hip-Hop Artist. Remy Ma nabbed the Best Female Hip-Hop Artist Award.
Entertainment and Sports
For achievements within the movie and television industry, 2016's "Hidden Figures" won the Best Movie award, beating other films such as "Moonlight" and "Get Out." "Moonlight" and "Luke Cage" actor Mahershala Ali got the Best Actor Award, while "Empire" star Taraji P.
Henson got the Best Actress Award. In the sports category, Stephen Curry walked away with the Sportsman of the Year Award, while Serena Williams got the Sportswoman of the year award.
Special Award and cameo appearance
During the awarding of the BET Humanitarian Award to Chance the Rapper, a special video was played during the event, which instantly resulted in a visibly excited crowd.
The former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, appeared in a pre-taped video to congratulate Chance the Rapper for his award. The Grammy Award-winning rapper was honored for his contributions and efforts in his hometown of Chicago, which is also the hometown of the former FLOTUS. Michelle Obama apologized for her and her husband's absence during the event.
The former first lady, then, went on to congratulate Chance and to call on other young individuals to find ways to express themselves and to find a way to contribute to their communities and their country.
