Teyana Taylor Wins Icon of the Year at BET Awards
Quick Look
- US actress and musician Teyana Taylor was the big winner at the BET Awards in Los Angeles, receiving the Icon of the Year award from Janet Jackson, which brought her to tears.
- She also won best actress, video director, and fashion vanguard, reflecting her 20 years of hard work and recent achievements.
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Why It Matters
US actress and musician Teyana Taylor was honored with the Icon of the Year award at the BET Awards, presented by Janet Jackson, marking a significant moment in her 20-year career.
US actress and musician Teyana Taylor was the big winner at the BET Awards in Los Angeles, and her tearful reaction to being presented with the Icon of the Year award by Janet Jackson provided one of the moments of the night.
The 35-year-old, who made her Hollywood breakthrough in recent Oscar-winning film One Battle After Another, was sobbing as Jackson introduced her.
"Oh my God... I'm gagging, they did not tell me Janet was coming," Taylor exclaimed as she joined her hero on stage.
The multi-talented Taylor, who first made her name when she choreographed a Beyoncé music video at the age of 15, also won best actress, video director of the year and the fashion vanguard award at Sunday's ceremony.
"I worked my ass off [for] 20 years for this," Taylor told the crowd, before taking her glasses off to clean the steam from the lenses.
"So I'm not accepting what I've earned with arrogance, I'm accepting what I've earned with gratitude.
"And this year alone I continue to give the world the artist, actress, director, choreographer, creative director, stylist, designer, writer, producer and chef! I graduated in September, y'all!"
The latter reference was about her training at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, which she juggled with her film and music careers.
This year has seen Taylor win a Golden Globe and receive an Oscar nomination for her role in One Battle After Another and a Grammy nomination for her album Escape Room.
She went on to tell the BET crowd that "this business can be very wicked [because] it teaches us to compete".
"I believe greatness isn't measured by how many people stand beneath you," she continued. "It's measured by how many people stand beside you because you're willing to reach back. That's the only legacy I care about."
