The 2022 BET Award nominations are in and like every year that came before it, the competition is filled to the brim with a plethora of our favorite talented actors, artists, athletes, and projects!
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Usually, when it comes to these sorts of things, we here at The Root try to make it a point to highlight all the Blackity-black folks who were recognized but let’s keep it a hunnid (read: 100 for all you unfamiliar and uncultured folks out there): this is the BET AWARDS. There’s really no need to do that as most of the folks nominated are both skinfolk and kinfolk. But nevertheless, to the nominees we go!
In the music category, Doja Cat leads the pack with six nominations, getting recognized for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, Best Female Hip Hop Artist, Album of the Year (for 2021's Planet Her,) BET Her Award for “Woman,” Video of the Year and Best Collaboration for “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA.
Following close behind with four nominations each is my favorite Shea Butter Baby Ari Lennox and the 6God himself, Drake. Lennox was recognized for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, Video of the Year, BET Her Award for “Pressure,” and BET Her for “Unloyal,” the collab between her and Summer Walker. As for Drizzy, he’s up for Best Male Hip Hop Artist, Best Collaboration and Video of the Year for “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug, and Album of the Year for Certified Lover Boy.
Other artists who are up for awards include Silk Sonic (Anderson .Paak, Bruno Mars), Chlöe, Tems, Jazmine Sullivan, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Baby Keem, Lil Baby, Lucky Daye, Giveon, City Girls, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B., Latto, Saweetie, Alicia Keys and more.
Switching gears over to the TV/film side, the nominees for Best Movie include Candyman, King Richard, RESPECT, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Summer of Soul, and Netflix hit The Harder They Fall (let’s go #yeehawagenda!).
For Best Actor, congratulations are in order to Bel-Air’s Adrian Holmes and Jabari Banks, Black-ish’s Anthony Anderson, Snowfall’s Damson Idris, The Tragedy of Macbeth’s Denzel Washington, Godfather of Harlem and RESPECT’s Forest Whitaker, This Is Us’ Sterling K. Brown, and King Richard’s Will Smith. Aujanue Ellis, Coco Jones, Issa Rae, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Quinta Brunson, Regina King and Zendaya for their roles in King Richard, Bel-Air, Insecure, Power Book II: Ghost, The Equalizer, Abbott Elementary, The Harder They Fall, and Euphoria/Spider-Man: No Way Home, respectively.
In the YoungStars Award category, let’s clap it up for Akira Akbar, Demi Singleton, Marsai Martin, Miles Brown, Saniyya Sidney, and Storm Reid.
Lastly, for the Sportswoman of the Year Award, the nominees include Brittney Griner, Candace Parker, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Simone Biles. The men who were recognized for the Sportsman of the Year Award include Aaron Donald, Bubba Wallace, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant, LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
For the complete list of nominees, head on over to bet.com. The 2022 BET Awards goes down Sunday, June 26, airing live from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles at 8p.m.ET only on BET.
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