Every year, the BET Awards celebrate black excellency in the world of entertainment. Will Smith was considered royalty in these awards next to his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. But for obvious reasons, none of them attended the ceremony last Sunday. Regardless of this, the BET Awards still decided to honor Will Smith for his role as Richard Williams in the ‘King Richard’ film.
In fact, the movie also won Best Picture during an evening filled with many great moments. Contrary to the Oscars or the Golden Globes, the BET Awards have a combined list of nominees for actor and actress between film and television. This happens because they are only nominating black actors.
Will Smith won best actor and #KingRichard won best movie at the #BETAwards. See the complete list of winners here https://t.co/Vkai7vRvkK pic.twitter.com/O89pkvSd6W
— Variety (@Variety) June 27, 2022
Who did Will Smith beat in the category?
Alongside Will Smith, there were some heavy hitters nominated for the award. We had Adrian Holmes and Jabari Banks for their performances in the ‘Bel-Air’ tv show. Sterling K. Brown for ‘This Is Us’, Anthony Anderson for ‘Black-Ish’, Damson Idris for ‘Snowfall’, Denzel Washington for ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ and Forest Whitaker for his roles in ‘Respect’ and ‘Godfather of Harlem’.
Smith was obviously not in attendance due to his absence from public life after the infamous slap against Chris Rock at the Oscars earlier in 2022. This BET Awards night was supposed to be a celebration of his legacy and his career but he ruined it.
Will Smith won the Best Actor award at the BET Awards for his leading role in King Richard.
He was recognized for his leading role in King Richard. The movie also won the prize for Best Movie. In the film, Smith plays Richard Williams, the father and longtime manager of ten… pic.twitter.com/VM0BDUt6cI
— Casper Raymundo (@CasperRaymundo) June 28, 2022
In the actress category, Zendaya won for her role in ‘Euphoria’. She defeated Aunjanue Ellis for ‘King Richard’, Coco Jones for ‘Bel-Air’, Issa Rae for ‘Insecure’, Jennifer Hudson for ‘Respect’, Mary J. Blidge for ‘Power Book II: Ghost’, Queen Latifah for ‘The Equalizer’, Quinta Brunson for ‘Abbott Elementary’ and Regina King for ‘The Harder They Fall’.
In sports, Stephen Curry won the Sportsman of the Year Award for his incredible year with the Golden State Warriors. Naomi Osaka won the Sportswoman of the Year Award for everything she’s done on and off the tennis court over the last year. But the biggest absence of the evening was definitely Will Smith.
Zendaya wins ‘Best Actress’ at the 2022 BET Awards. pic.twitter.com/oBRpeQVnmR
— Zendaya Updates (@Zendaya_Updated) June 27, 2022
