There were first-time winners in several key categories at the 20th Annual BET Awards. Lizzo was named Best Female R&B / Pop Artist. She beat Beyoncé, who had won 10 times in this category, including the past six years in a row.
Megan Thee Stallion won the best female hip-hop artist, beating two former winners in the category: Cardi B, who had won the past two years, and seven-time winner Nicki Minaj.
DaBaby won the best male hip-hop artist, beating four-time winner Drake, among others.
Gymnast Simone Biles won the athlete of the year for the first time. She beat tennis legend Serena Williams (who had won 12 times in the category, including the past six years in a row).
Here are other artists who made history at the BET Awards.
Blue Ivy Carter, the eight-year-old daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, shared the BET HER award for “Brown Skin Girl” along with her mother, Wizkid and SAINt JHN. This made Blue Ivy the youngest winner in BET history. Willow Smith, daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, was 10 in 2011 and shared the YoungStars award with her 12-year-old brother Jaden Smith.
Roddy Ricch’s debut album, Excuse me for being antisocial, won album of the year. It is the second year in a row that a debut album has won this award. Last year’s winner was Cardi B’s Privacy invasion. Ricch also won the Best New Artist award, despite stiff competition from Lil Nas X and Summer Walker.
Chris Brown won the Best Male R&B / Pop Male Artist award for the fifth time with a record. He beat The Weeknd, which has yet to win in this category. Brown also won the best collaboration for his hit “No Guidance” (with Drake).
Migos won the best group for the fourth time, a record in the category. They had been tied with OutKast, who won three times.
Kirk Franklin won the Dr. Bobby Jones Gospel / Inspiration Award for “Just For Me,” beating Kanye West, among others. This is Franklin’s fourth win in the category, putting him in a tie with Yolanda Adams for the most wins in the history of the category.
DJ Khaled’s “Higher” (with the late Nipsey Hussle and John Legend) won the video of the year. It is the first collaboration to win in this category since Jay-Z and West’s “Otis” (which credited the late Otis Redding as a featured artist) eight years ago.
Michael B. Jordan won the best actor for the third time, tying Denzel Washington for the most wins in the history of the category. Ascendant Jordan has won all three awards in the past five years. Washington’s most recent victory was in 2008.
The great basketball player LeBron James won the athlete of the year for the seventh time, extending his leadership as the best winner in that category.
Queen & Slim he won the best film. It is only the second film directed by a woman who wins in this category (which was presented in 2010). Melina Matsoukas supervised Queen & Slim Ava DuVernay directed Selma, the winner of 2015.
Marsai Martin, the 15-year-old co-star of ABC blackish, won the YoungStars Award for the second consecutive year. She is the third artist to win twice in this category, after Yara Shahidi and Keke Palmer.
Burna Boy won the best international act for the second consecutive year. The artist is from Nigeria, just like 2018 winner Davido.
