BET Awards 2025 took place Monday night, with several reasons to celebrate.
This year’s event commemorated 45 years of the network as well as 25 years of the award show. It also marked the 25th anniversary of music video show 106 & Park, which it honored with a special tribute that brought the audience back to the era with former hosts, a recreated set of the show and performances from Ashanti, Jim Jones, Keyshia Cole, Mya, T.I., B2K and Bow Wow.
Host Kevin Hart fooled throughout the night, joking he’s banning afterparties because “thats where s*** gets slippery” — a dig at Diddy and his freak-offs. He also reunited the cast of Real Husbands of Hollywood, brought back his Chocolate Droppa alter-ego and parodied Usher‘s cherry-giving segment.
Among the distributed awards, SZA won best R&B/pop female artist, Kendrick Lamar took home album of the year, Chris Brown‘s “Residuals” won the viewer’s choice award, and Doechii won best female hip-hop artist, taking time to “speak up for all oppressed people” after Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops against those protesting ICE’s immigration raids.
Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin received the Ultimate Icon award, with Snoop performing a medley of hits. Jamie Foxx, who also received the honor, thanked God, his family and Black people for their prayers during his near-death experience.
“I cannot even being to express the love that I feel from everybody out there,” he said, noting he watched the in memoriam thinking, “Man it could have been me.”
“I don’t know why I went through what I went through but I know my second chance, I’m not gonna turn down,” he added, noting the Icon Award is the most important award he’s ever received because it comes from his people.
The show also included performances from best new artist winner Leon Thomas, as well as Lil Wayne, GloRilla, Ledisi, Teyana Taylor and Playboi Carti.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
