NAACP Image Awards 2021 Recap

The 52nd Annual NAACP Image Awards were held on Friday, March 27, and honored those who made impactful changes both on and off-screen. Anthony Anderson hosted the show for the eighth time and even took home an award for his own show, Black-ish. 

This year’s awards operated a little bit different due to COVID. Beginning last Monday, the organization began giving out a set of awards each night until the Friday simulcast. Throughout the week, Anderson’s co-stars Dean Cole and Marsai Martin won in their respective categories. The late Chadwick Boseman was also announced to have won for his supporting role in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. 

Boseman also ended up winning best outstanding actor in a motion picture for Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. His co-star Viola Davis, who took on the title character role, also won outstanding actress in a motion picture. The film itself went onto win the award for outstanding ensemble cast in a motion picture. 

Issa Rae was nominated in four different categories and ended up winning two awards for her hit HBO show Insecure. She won outstanding actress in a comedy series and the show itself won the award for outstanding comedy series. 

Bridgerton break-out star Regé-Jean Page won for outstanding actor in a drama series. Though it was the only win for the show, the Netflix original series found itself losing to Power Book II: Ghost, which won outstanding drama series and outstanding actress in a drama series for Mary J. Blige. 

Some other big wins included Disney’s animated motion picture Soul. The film took the award for outstanding animated motion picture and Jamie Foxx, the star of the movie, won outstanding character voice-over performance. The continuation of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s film franchise Bad Boys for Life took away the award for outstanding motion picture, beating out Spike Lee’s new joint and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Additional awards included the social justice impact award, which of course went to Stacey Abrams for her efforts in increasing voter turnout in Georgia. Lebron James was granted the NAACP President’s Award, Eddie Murphy was honored with the Hall of Fame Award, and Rev. James Lawson was awarded the Chairman’s Award. D-Nice also walked away with the Entertainer of the Year award and social media star Tabitha Brown won outstanding social media personality.

To see the full list, head over to the NAACP Image Awardswebpage.