Golden Globe winner and Grammy nominee Teyana Taylor will be saluted as Icon of the Year at the 2026 BET Awards.
Taylor will receive the special prize during the BET Awards telecast on Sunday, June 28. The show, broadcast live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, will be hosted by Druski.
The BET Awards “Icon of the Year” award is presented to a culture-defining artist, a press release explains, “someone whose impact isn’t measured in years but in the undeniable weight they carry in every room, every conversation, and every corner of the culture they touch.”
In recent years, the Harlem-born Taylor has come to define that ideal, evolving from a multi-platinum singer-songwriter into an award-winning actress, plus executing her vision as a director, producer, choreographer and style star. In the past five years alone, Taylor earned a Critics’ Choice Award for the Sundance gem “A Thousand and One,” won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress and nabbed an Academy Award nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another”; and her visual album “Escape Room” earned a Grammy nomination for best R&B album. She also starred opposite Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the Netflix action thriller “The Rip,” and joined the starry ensemble for Ryan Murphy’s “All’s Fair” for Hulu.
“Teyana Taylor is the embodiment of what it means to be an icon in this moment,” states Connie Orlando, EVP, specials, music programming & music strategy at BET. “She doesn’t ask for a seat at the table; she builds the table, designs the rooms, and sets the tone for everyone who walks in. Her fingerprints are all over culture, and it is an honor to celebrate everything she represents on Culture’s Biggest Night.”
Additional honorees, performers, presenters and special guests for this year’s BET Awards will be announced in the coming weeks.
