Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” was the big winner on the final night of the 57th NAACP Image Awards virtual ceremonies.
The blockbuster movie — which led the Image Award nominations with a dominant 18 nods, including outstanding motion picture — won three categories: stunt ensemble, cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw) and ensemble cast (Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Buddy Guy, Delroy Lindo, Peter Dreimanis, Lola Kirke, Li Jun Li, Saul Williams and Yao). Coogler and Jordan’s previous collaborations, “Black Panther” and its sequel “Wakanda Forever,” also won the ensemble prize on the way to massive trophy hauls at their respective Image Awards telecasts.
Wednesday night’s virtual ceremony, hosted by Angel “ThatChickAngel” Laketa Moore and Khleo Thomas, focused on the non-televised film, television, and writing award categories. Teyana Taylor — who is nominated for six Image Awards, including one for her role in “One Battle After Another” — picked up the prize for outstanding supporting actress in a TV movie, limited series or dramatic special for her work in “Tyler Perry’s Straw.” Her co-star in the Netflix thriller, Glynn Turman, won the supporting actor award.
The late Malcolm-Jamal Warner won the prize for outstanding guest performance for his part in the Fox series “Murder in a Small Town.” It was the second Image Award win for the actor, who died last year at 54.
With the virtual ceremonies complete, the Image Awards week rolls along to its final destination, the 57th Image Awards telecast, hosted by Deon Cole, on Saturday, Feb. 28. The show will be broadcast live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET, CBS and across Paramount networks.
Deon Cole returns to host the show, broadcast from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. While “Sinners” topped the film categories, the recently-wrapped Peacock series “Bel-Air” led the TV categories with seven nominations. The nominees for Entertainer of the Year, the show’s signature category, include Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, Kendrick Lamar, Michael B. Jordan and Teyana Taylor.
Special honorees for this year’s NAACP Image Awards week include Viola Davis, who will be presented with the Chairman’s Award; Colman Domingo, the President’s Award honoree; Salt-N-Pepa and DJ Spinderella who will be inducted into the Image Awards Hall of Fame; A$AP Rocky, to be presented with the Vanguard Award for fashion; and Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, who will receive the prestigious Mildred Bond Roxborough Social Justice Impact Award.
The full list of winners from night three can be found below:
Outstanding Children’s Program
“Gracie’s Corner” (YouTube TV)
Outstanding Animated Series
“Gracie’s Corner” (YouTube TV)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television)
Kyla Pratt – “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” (Disney+)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Motion Picture)
Quinta Brunson – “Zootopia 2” (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Outstanding Stunt Ensemble (Television or Motion Picture)
“Sinners” – Andy Gill (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
“Love, Brooklyn” (Greenwich Entertainment)
Outstanding International Motion Picture
“Souleymane’s Story” (Kino Lorber)
Outstanding Documentary (Film)
“Being Eddie” (Netflix)
Outstanding Cinematography in a Motion Picture
Autumn Durald Arkapaw – “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Editing in a Motion Picture or Television Series, Movie, or Special
Deanna Nowell – “Ironheart” (Disney+)
Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)
Cassandra Mann – “Unexpected Christmas” (3 Diamonds Entertainment LLC)
Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Buddy Guy, Delroy Lindo, Peter Dreimanis, Lola Kirke, Li Jun Li, Saul Williams, Yao – “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Variety (Series or Special)
“Ali Siddiq: My Two Sons” (YouTube/Moment PPV)
Outstanding Guest Performance
Malcolm-Jamal Warner – “Murder in a Small Town” (FOX)
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Aisha Muharrar – “Hacks” – “Clickable Face” (HBO Max)
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Cynthia Adarkwa – “The Pitt” -“12:00 P.M.” (HBO Max)
Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special
Aireka Muse – “Friends & Lovers” (Lifetime Movie Network)
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
Tyler James Williams – “Abbott Elementary” – “The Science Fair” (ABC)
Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
Mario Van Peebles – “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” – “Allow Me to Re-Introduce Myself” (STARZ)
Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special
Olatunde Osunsanmi – “Star Trek: Section 31” (Paramount+)
Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television)
Chinaka Hodge – “Ironheart” (Disney+)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special
Teyana Taylor – “Straw” (Netflix)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special
Glynn Turman – “Straw” (Netflix)
Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble
Steve Harvey – “Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC)
Outstanding Reality Program, Reality Competition or Game Show (Series)
“Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC)
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Tuesday, February 24
Cardi B, Don Lemon and SZA joined Michelle Obama and Kendrick Lamar as NAACP Image Award winners on night two of the virtual pre-show.
Cardi B won three Image Awards on Tuesday night, including outstanding female artist and outstanding album for her latest record “Am I the Drama?” Her track “ErrTime” won the prize for outstanding hip-hop/rap song. Before this year’s ceremony, Cardi B had won just one Image Award, for serving as judge and executive producer of “Rhythm & Flow.”
Veteran journalist Don Lemon won two trophies for his eponymous talk show, “The Don Lemon Show”; Lemon’s news and talk series and Obama’s podcast “IMO,” which the former first lady co-hosts with her brother Craig Robinson, won four of the five awards presented for that medium.
Lamar, who was also a big winner on the first night of the three-part virtual ceremony, added two more prizes on night two. The rapper was named outstanding male artist and shared the music video/visual album award with SZA for their Grammy-winning hit “Luther.”
Coogler’s “Sinners” won its first awards out of its 18 nominations, collecting the prizes for outstanding soundtrack and original score.
Watch the virtual pre-show in the video here. The full list of winners from night two can be found below:
Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album
“luther” – Kendrick Lamar & SZA (pgLang under exclusive license to Interscope Records)
Outstanding New Artist
Monaleo – “Who Did the Body?” (Columbia Records)
Outstanding Female Artist
Cardi B (Atlantic Records)
Outstanding Male Artist
Kendrick Lamar (pgLang under exclusive license to Interscope Records)
Outstanding Hip-Hop/Rap Song
“ErrTime” – Cardi B (Atlantic Records)
Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album
“Sinners (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Proximity Media LLC, under exclusive license to Masterworks, a label of Sony Music Entertainment)
Outstanding International Song
“Is It” – Tyla (Epic Records)
Outstanding Jazz Album
“We Insist! 2025” – Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell (Candid Records)
Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song
“Do it Again” – Kirk Franklin (Fo Yo Soul Recordings/Tribl Records)
Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album
“Tasha” – Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Motown Gospel)
Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional)
803Fresh feat. Fantasia – “Boots on the Ground Remix” (Snake Eyez Music Group/Artist Partner Group)
Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary)
Chris Brown feat. Bryson Tiller & Usher – “It Depends (Remix)” (RCA Records/Chris Brown Entertainment)
Outstanding Original Score for TV/Film
“Sinners (Original Motion Picture Score)” (Proximity Media LLC, under exclusive license to Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment)
Outstanding Album
“Am I The Drama?” – Cardi B (Atlantic Records)
Outstanding Podcast – Scripted/Limited Series/Short Form
“Interesting Things with JC” (Jim Connors LLC)
Outstanding Podcast – News and Information
“The Don Lemon Show” (Lemon Media Network)
Outstanding Podcast – Lifestyle/Self-Help
“IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” (Higher Ground)
Outstanding Podcast – Arts, Sports and Entertainment
“IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” (Higher Ground)
Outstanding Podcast – Society and Culture
“The Don Lemon Show” (Lemon Media Network)
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Monday, February 23
The 57th NAACP Image Awards week kicked off Monday with former first lady Michelle Obama and rapper Kendrick Lamar winning two of the early prizes.
Obama’s latest book, “The Look” — which explored her style evolution from her time in the White House to life afterwards — won the award for outstanding literary work biography/autobiography. Meanwhile, Lamar’s electrifying Super Bowl halftime performance was named outstanding short-form series or special – reality/nonfiction/documentary. Both Obama and Lamar are repeat winners at the Image Awards: she won in the same category in 2019 for her memoir “Becoming,” while he has nine trophies from the NAACP, including two for his 2025 anthem “Not Like Us.”
The awards were announced during the first edition of a three-night virtual event, where winners will be revealed in the majority of the Image Awards’ more than 90 categories (across film, television and streaming, music, literature and podcasts). The pre-show ceremony, hosted by Angel “ThatChickAngel” Laketa Moore and Khleo Thomas, aired exclusively on YouTube and NAACP+ and focused primarily on the literary categories, as well as two digital content creator prizes. For the first time, the NAACP Image Awards got into gaming, with Berlin Edmond Jr., aka Berleezy, winning the top prize.
Watch the virtual pre-show ceremony in the video above. The full list of winners from night one can be found here:
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
“The Look” – Michelle Obama (Crown)
Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction
“A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm & Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics” – Juanita Tolliver (Legacy Lit/Hachette Book Group)
Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
“Who Better Than You?” – Will Packer (Penguin Random House)
Outstanding Literary Work – Journalism
“On Borrowed Time” – Anissa Durham (Online)
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
Charles B. Fancher – “Red Clay” (Blackstone Publishing)
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
“Death of the Author” – Nnedi Okorafor (William Morrow)
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
“The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems” – Patricia Smith (Scribner)
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
“Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark” – Allen R. Wells; Illustrated by DeAndra Hodge (Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/Macmillan)
Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
“Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi” – Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Clarion Books)
Outstanding Literary Work – Graphic Novel
“Parable of the Talents: A Graphic Novel Adaptation” – Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damien Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings and David Brame (Abrams ComicArts)
Outstanding Short-Form Series or Special – Reality/Nonfiction/Documentary
“The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar” (FOX)
Outstanding Digital Content Creator – Gaming/Tech
Berlin Edmond Jr. (@Berleezy)
Outstanding Digital Content Creator – Fitness/Wellness/Food
Keith Lee (@keith_lee125)
