Following the Oscars, the NAACP Image Awards were held this weekend at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall. This year, the show was hosted by Queen Latifah. The Hollywood Reporter posted a list of the winners.
Per the usual tradition, the NAACP awarded all facets of African American entertainment. None other than Oprah Winfrey herself presented the highest accolade that the awards show can give, that of Entertainer of the Year. The award this year was given to Usher.
On the film side of the ceremony, the new musical take on The Color Purple took home the most awards of the night. The Color Purple is a new imagining of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 classic of the same name in which a woman tries to escape the clutches of an abusive relationship.
Colman Domingo, who starred in The Color Purple, took home both Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Supporting Actor. The latter was for his work in The Color Purple, while the former was for his work in Rustin.
Three awards presented to The Color Purple were given at a separate show, where it won for costume design, makeup, and hairstyling.
Actress Fantasia Barrino was taken by surprise when she took home a win for Outstanding Actress for her work in The Color Purple. She stated that, since she thought she didn’t have a chance, she didn’t even have a speech ready to go.
Barrino reflected on the role, saying, “I was afraid to play Celie, but I’m glad I did because I kept saying if I don’t win an award, the awards that I will win is the people that will watch The Color Purple and the women who will relate to her and who will feel like Oscars when they walk out [of the theater].”
Winning Outstanding Supporting Actress was Taraji P. Henson for her role as Shug in The Color Purple, during her speech she stated, “It’s a scary thing to speak your truth, but I urge you all to speak your truth because at the end of the day, that’s all we have.”
The Color Purple won Outstanding Motion Picture, and was nominated alongside Origin, Rustin, They Cloned Tyrone, and American Fiction. American Fiction was up for several Oscars last weekend and won Best Adapted Screenplay.
Another carryover from the Oscars was Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in The Holdovers.
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