What to Expect From the 2022 BET Awards: “It's Our Black Super Bowl”

The BET Awards, now in their 22nd year, will air live from Los Angeles's Microsoft Theatre June 26. Here's what to expect from the show.

What to Expect From the 2022 BET Awards: “It’s Our Black Super Bowl”

Taraji P. Henson at the 2021 BET AwardsBennett Raglin/Getty Images

At last year’s BET Awards, Taraji P. Henson, who served as the night’s emcee, paid tribute to iconic women of Black Hollywood by donning a mix of outfits and hairstyles honoring personal inspirations of hers like Tina Turner, Diana Ross and Esther Jones. This year, Henson is back as host, and though the specifics of her looks and the hotly-anticipated show will remain a surprise, she plans to hold the same celebration of Black artistic excellence front and center.

Henson tells The Hollywood Reporter that the BET Awards have long represented to her “pride for our accomplishments as Black people, a safe place for us to celebrate each other for us to get the shine that we wouldn’t necessarily get on a different kind of stage.” This year, the actress says, she’s approaching the live show the same way she prepares for a live theater performance.

“I approach everything like I approach new characters: What can I bring that’s different? What should we talk about this year? How can we uplift people’s spirits in this time when things look so dim and gray and dark? When people sit down and those curtains open up, they want to forget, they want to have a completely cathartic experience. As a host, that’s my job. To open the show and keep the energy going throughout.”

Every June, the Black Entertainment Television network maintains its mission of celebrating Black excellence in the form of the annual BET Awards, now in their 22nd year. The show entertains, engages and empowers Black audiences through the power of art and creates countless moments for the community to showcase content and enjoy the perse dynamism of culture.

“As a creative on the show, our goal is always to make it bigger, better, stronger, faster than the year before. It’s culture’s biggest night, and we have consistently delivered timeless moments for the culture,” Connie Orlando, BET’s executive vp of specials, music programming, music strategy and news tells THR. “One thing that the BET Awards do that no other show can do is not only do we celebrate culture on culture’s biggest night, but we create culture because these moments live on past the show and become embedded in the fabric of who we are.”

This year marks the second consecutive year the BET Awards will be hosted by Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning actor, writer, director, producer and philanthropist Taraji P. Henson. She’s a selection Orlando says was effortless: “She’s so widely loved. She’s a part of our culture … [and] last year, she knocked it out of the park. I think three minutes after last year’s show, we said: ‘Would you come back and do it for us again?’ “

Clearly, the answer was yes.

Among the many highlights of the night, Henson says she is “excited to see Lizzo put on a show … especially if she brings out that flute,” and is happy that she’s hosting the year that her fellow HBCU alum ‘Diddy’ is honored.

Music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient (“our most coveted award,” Orlando says) which honors people BET considers to be industry giants. In celebration of Combs, Orlando says: “He’s been a transformative leader. He’s shaped culture throughout his extensive career. He’s inspired not just his generation, but generations young and old. It is our honor to honor him and really shine a light on his impact and his legacy.”

According to Orlando, this year’s show has “plenty of surprises folded in and moments to shock and awe folks.” The evening’s performers will include Babyface, Chance The Rapper, Chlöe, Doechii, Ella Mai, Fireboy DML, GIVĒON, Jack Harlow, Joey Bada$$, Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin, Latto, Lizzo, Muni Long and Roddy Ricch, among others. Airing live June 26 on BET at 8 p.m. ET / PT from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, viewers at home will get to see every moment and emotion take form in real-time, no doubt aided by the crowd’s active participation in the evening’s events.

“The audience is one of our performers, the energy they bring just really fuels the show — it is powered by the audience,” Orlando says. “That’s important to us, and it’s important to the experience of it.”

When nominations were released earlier this month, 23-year-old rapper Lil Nas X publicly responded to his absence on the list in the form of a diss track. He posted a video of himself lip-syncing to an unreleased snippet from his song “Late To The Party,” which features the refrain: “F*** BET.” A string of since-deleted tweets by the queer rapper followed, alluding to homophobia as a possible reason behind the snub from “his own people.” (By contrast, Jack Harlow, the featured rapper on Lil Nas X’s 2021 breakout single “Industry Baby,” is nominated in the best male hip-hop artist category.)

“We love Lil Nas X … of course, he can come to the show if he wants to,” says Orlando. “He was nominated for Best New Artist in 2020, we may have been the first to showcase him in 2019 with Billy Ray Cyrus, and he performed last year. Unfortunately, this year, he wasn’t nominated by the voting academy, which is an esteemed group of [500] entertainment professionals. No one from BET is a member of that voting academy or votes.”

Harlow’s nomination and Lil Nas X’s lack of one caused many to call into question BET’s role in celebrating Black artists versus celebrating anyone who participates in — and is inspired by — Black art, like hip-hop music. When asked whether Harlow, as a white rapper from Louisville was a valid nominee, Orlando responds: “We celebrate culture. We celebrate what’s hot, what’s happening now. And I think the nominations are always a reflection of that.”

This approach also helps the BET creative team keep the annual show relevant for new audiences and shareable on modern social media platforms, according to Orlando. “Whether it’s something from TikTok, [or including] influencers from IG Reels, the goal is always to meet the world where it is,” she says.

One strategy that the network has for keeping the show fresh is rebranding old and familiar elements. This year’s Amplified Stage was once known as ‘Music Matters,’ an initiative that celebrated up-and-coming artists and continues to today. “People like J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj were all Music Matters artists,” Orlando says. “It’s our stage of discovery. People who usually hit that stage, nine times out of 10 become great.” This year, artists GoGo Morrow and OGI will perform on the stage that promises to be the penultimate step to superstardom.

Though Sunday’s show is the main event, BET weekend in Los Angeles — marked by parties and other programming like the “House of BET,” a three-day event featuring live performances, a comedy show, live podcasts, panels and immersive experiences at L.A.’s Goya Studios through June 25 — has a lore and legacy all its own. “It’s our Black Super Bowl. It’s a family reunion. That’s the energy of it,” Orlando muses. “It’s a moment to come together, to connect with friends and family, and to have an incredible weekend of fellowship.”