Combs accepts honor at BET Awards
With a speech about his own inspirational dream for the Black community, Sean “Diddy” Combs channeled the spirit of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while accepting the BET Awards’ highest honor Sunday in Los Angeles.
After Combs received his Lifetime Achievement Award, the music mogul said God put a special message in his heart to deliver his “new dream.”
“I got this dream of
Black people being free,” Combs said. “I got this dream of us controlling our own destiny. I got this dream of us taking accountability and stop killing each other. I got this dream of us being rich and wealthy and living on the same block. I have this dream of us unifying.”
The BET Awards celebrate the contributions that people of color have made through the entertainment realm, highlighting winners in 19 categories, including film and sports.
Combs’ honor came on the same night when other big stars used the awards to strongly criticize the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strip away women’s constitutional protection for abortion.
Singer Janelle Monae held up their middle finger toward the Supreme Court before introducing nominees for best female R&B/ pop artist. Jazmine Sullivan, the category’s winner, made a plea to men for their support of women.
“If you’ve ever benefited from a woman making one of the toughest decisions of her life, which is to terminate a pregnancy, you need to be standing. This is not just a woman’s issue. This is everybody’s issue. We need your support more than ever.”
Latto gave an emotional speech after she won best new artist. “It’s giving pro-choice,” said the rapper. “It’s never giving a man policing my body.”
Singer Tems dedicated her best international act award to the many women who “dare to dream.”
Doja Cat, Drake and Ari Lennox entered the night with the most nominations, but came away with no trophies. Silk Sonic — formed by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak — won two awards including album of the year for “An Evening
with Silk Sonic.”
Songwriter Williams dies:
Songwriter Kenneth “Ken” Williams — who wrote or co-wrote hundreds of tunes for an array of artists such as Donny Hathaway, The Four Tops and Peaches & Herb, including The Main Ingredient’s hit “Everybody Plays the Fool” — has died at age 83.
Williams died June 17 following a long illness in New York, said his wife, actor and singer Mary Seymour Williams.
During the last five decades, Williams added over 500 songs to his music catalogue. Williams, along with Rudy Clark and J.R. Bailey penned “Everybody Plays the Fool,” originally recorded in 1972 and covered by numerous artists. In recent years, Williams’ output has been sampled by artists such as Alicia Keys and Lil’ Wayne.
‘Elvis’ king of box office:
“Elvis” won its box-office dance-off with “Top Gun: Maverick.” After the two films reported the same ticket sales Sunday, Monday’s final numbers had “Elvis,” alone, as king of the weekend. “Elvis” grossed $31.1 million from Friday to Sunday, according to Warner Bros.’ final figures. That’s a touch above the $30.5 million the studio forecast on Sunday.
Paramount Pictures slightly overestimated how “Top Gun: Maverick” fared in its fifth weekend. After the studio reported the same $30.5 million for the “Top Gun” sequel on Sunday, the studio’s final number came in at $29.6 million.
June 28 birthdays:
Director Mel Brooks is 96. Comedian John Byner is 84. Actor Bruce Davison is 76. Actor Kathy Bates is 74. Actor Alice Krige is 68. Actor Jessica Hecht is 57. Actor John Cusack is 56. Actor Gil Bellows is 55. Singer Danielle Brisebois is 53. Actor Tichina Arnold is 53. Singer Kellie Pickler is 36.