FCN 07/16/2002
It's Hot In Herre!
The 2nd Annual BET Awards
Black star power was definitely in the house at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, Ca. recently. The home of the historic Oscar wins of Halle Berry and Denzel Washington was overflowing with the biggest and brightest Black entertainers in the industry as BET hosted its 2nd annual awards show. The A-list of Black actors and actresses, musicians and athletes are too numerous to name in this column. Some that were in attendance or presenters at the show were Morris Chestnut, Chante Moore and husband Kenny Lattimore, Vince Carter, Truth Hurts, Mike Bibby, Jada Pinkett-Smith, New Edition, Johnny Gill and Evander Holyfield.
Comedians Steve Harvey and Cedric The Entertainer returned as hosts of the event for a second year. The audience was treated to live performances from several of today’s hottest stars including Bow Wow, Nelly and Ludacris. Hot rapper Ja Rule was all over the place. Along with winning the award for Best Male Hip Hop artist, he took the stage twice—once accompanying Mary J. Blige on her single “Rainy Days” and the next time with newcomer Ashanti on a medley of her hit songs. Other stand out performances included Usher (Best Male R&B), Yolanda Adams (Best Gospel Artist) and the Viewer’s Choice Award winner B2K.
A special moment in the show occurred when Steve Harvey presented legendary R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Chaka Khan, Eddie Levert and Tweet serenaded the group after which they took to the stage to perform a medley of their greatest hits. There was also a moving video tribute to the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Aaliyah.
BET founder Bob Johnson network presented Bobby Jones of the Bobby Jones Gospel Hour the Chairman’s Award in recognition of his years with the network. Halle Berry, who was not present, won for Best Actress. Our girl India.Arie finally got her props and won for Best Female R&B artist.
Everyone is still wondering how Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali, won for Best Female Athlete over the more popular and visible Venus and Serena Williams. Will Smith won for Best Actor over Denzel Washington playing Laila’s father in the movie Ali. And to top it all off, Muhammad Ali, deservingly so, was given the Humanitarian Award for his many years of hard work.
The woman who has the Midas touch, Alicia Keys, won for Best New Artist. Visibly upset and near tears, Keys accepted the award but had more to say. After thanking fans, family and label executives, she said, “What I really want to say right now is we done lost too many people. We done lost too many people for no reason—because of ego. We need to not perpetuate that. This award is for everyone we lost.”
Ms. Keys was moved to speak those words because of Snoop Dogg and Suge Knight. During a commercial break Suge Knight and Snoop Dogg had a heated exchange that could have escalated if F.O.I., theater security and police officers had not come to defuse the potentially volatile situation.
Later, backstage host Steve Harvey told reporters, “I talked to Suge and asked him for respect and Suge said he would never disrespect the event.”
The night’s other winners were Kobe Bryant (Best Male Athlete), Busta Rhymes and P. Diddy (Video of The Year) and Missy Elliott (Best Female Hip Hop).
—Michelle Muhammad