NAACP Image Awards: ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ ‘Abbott Elementary’ Among Top Winners at Pre-Telecast Dinner

The 2023 NAACP Image Awards continued their week–long celebration Friday with a non-televised dinner where winners in a number of categories were honored.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Abbott Elementary were among the top winners from night five, with each project winning three awards. The Best Man: The Final Chapters and P-Valley each won two awards.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever leads this year’s NAACP Image Awards nominees with 12 nods, with Abbott Elementary landing nine nominations. P-Valley was nominated for six awards.

During the dinner at the L.A. Live Event Deck hosted by actress Bresha Webb, the Activist of the Year Award was presented to civil rights advocate Dr. Derrick Lee Foward, president of the NAACP’s Dayton, Ohio unit and vice president of the Ohio NAACP. The dinner also recognized the Youth Activist of the Year: Bloomington-Normal NAACP Youth Council president Bradley Ross Jackson, who helped organize a 1,000-person peaceful protest to demand justice for the murder of George Floyd, one of the largest demonstrations held in Bloomington, Indiana.

And The Markup CEO Nabiha Syed received the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, virtually presented by Prince Harry and NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson. The honor recognizes young leaders who are creating change and working to advance civil rights through social justice and technology.

Presenters at the Friday night event included Coco Jones, Tichina Arnold, April Ryan, Angie Martinez and Wendell Pierce. Tye Tribbett and Too Short performed, celebrating the legacy of hip-hop.

The Friday night dinner, where the red carpet was canceled due to heavy rain in Los Angeles, comes after four nights of non-televised awards presentations across multiple categories.

Additionally, on Thursday, the NAACP held a luncheon and fashion show, hosted by actress Brandee Evans, where the outstanding make-up, hairstyling and costume design winners were announced.

The award for best hairstyling in TV or film went to Camille Friend for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Best make-up in TV or film went to Debi Young, Sandra Linn, Ngozi Olandu Young and Gina Bateman for We Own This City. And best costume design in TV or film went to Ruth Carter for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The 2023 NAACP Image Awards telecast, hosted by Queen Latifah, is set to air live on BET and various Paramount networks, including CBS, at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night.

A complete list of Friday night’s winners and the make-up, hairstyling and costume design winners from Thursday night follow.

Outstanding Talk Series

Hart to Heart (Peacock)
Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)
Sherri (Syndicated) (WINNER)
Tamron Hall (ABC)
Uninterrupted: The Shop (YouTube)

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Carl Weber’s The Black Hamptons (BET Networks)
From Scratch (Netflix)
The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock) (WINNER)
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (Apple TV+)
Women of the Movement (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson – black-ish (ABC)
Cedric The Entertainer – The Neighborhood (CBS) (WINNER)
Donald Glover – Atlanta (FX)
Dulé Hill – The Wonder Years (ABC)
Mike Epps – The Upshaws (Netflix)

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series

Loretta Devine – Family Reunion (Netflix)
Maya Rudolph – Loot (Apple TV+)
Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary (ABC) (WINNER)
Tichina Arnold – The Neighborhood (CBS)
Tracee Ellis Ross – black-ish (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Morris Chestnut – The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock) (WINNER)
Samuel L. Jackson  – The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (Apple TV+)
Terrence Howard – The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock)
Trevante Rhodes – Mike (Hulu)
Wendell Pierce – Don’t Hang Up (Bounce TV)

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special

Niecy Nash-Betts – Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix) (WINNER)
Regina Hall – The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock)
Sanaa Lathan – The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock)
Viola Davis – The First Lady (Showtime)
Zoe Saldaña – From Scratch (Netflix)

Outstanding Animated Motion Picture

DC League of Super-Pets (Warner Bros. Pictures / WAG / DC)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal Pictures)
Turning Red (Pixar Animation Studios)
Wendell & Wild (Netflix) (WINNER)

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture

Jalyn Hall – Till (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures) (WINNER)
Joshua Boone – A Jazzman’s Blues (Netflix)
Ledisi – Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story (Hulu)
Y’lan Noel – A Lot of Nothing (RLJE)
Yola – Elvis (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture

Antoine Fuqua – Emancipation (Apple)
Chinonye Chukwu – Till (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures)
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King (Sony Pictures Releasing) (WINNER)
Kasi Lemmons – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Ryan Coogler – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel Studios)

Outstanding Documentary (Film)

Civil (Netflix) (WINNER)
Descendant (Netflix)
Is That Black Enough For You?!? (Netflix)
Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (Apple TV+)
Sidney (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Documentary (Television)

Black Love (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Everything’s Gonna be All White (Showtime) (WINNER)
Frontline (PBS)
Race: Bubba Wallace (Netflix)
Shaq (HBO Max)

Outstanding Drama Series

Bel-Air (Peacock)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
Euphoria (HBO Max)
P-Valley (Starz) (WINNER)
Queen Sugar (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture

Breaking (Bleecker Street)
Causeway (Apple TV)
Mr. Malcolm’s List (Bleecker Street)
Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story (Hulu)
The Inspection (A24) (WINNER)

Outstanding International Motion Picture

Athena (Netflix)
Bantú Mama (ARRAY) (WINNER)
Broker (NEON)
Learn to Swim (ARRAY)
The Silent Twins (Focus Features)

Outstanding Jazz Album – Vocal

Legacy – Adam Blackstone (BASSic Black Entertainment Records / Anderson Music Group / Empire) (WINNER)
Linger Awhile – Samara Joy (Verve Records)
Love and the Catalyst – Aimée Allen (Azuline)
New Standards Vol. 1 – Terri Lyne Carrington (Candid Records)
The Evening : Live at Apparatus – The Baylor Project (Be A Light)

Outstanding New Artist

Adam Blackstone – Legacy (BASSic Black Entertainment Records/Anderson Music Group/Empire)
Armani White – Billie Eilish (Def Jam Recordings)
Coco Jones – ICU (Def Jam Recordings) (WINNER)
Fivio Foreign – B.I.B.L.E (Columbia Records)
Steve Lacy – Gemini Rights (RCA Records)

Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast

Angie Martinez IRL (Media Noche Productions)
Black Girl Songbook (Spotify & The Ringer)
Jemele Hill is Unbothered (Unbothered Inc, Spotify, Lodge Freeway Media, Exit 39)
The Read (Loud Speakers Network)
Two Funny Mamas (Mocha Podcasts Network) (WINNER)

Outstanding Social Media Personality of the Year

@Theconsciousless- George Lee
@thechristishow – Christianee Porter
@earnyourleisure – Troy Millings & Rashad Bilal
@KevOnStage – Kevin Fredericks (WINNER)
@lynaevanee – Lynae Vanee

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Brian Tyree Henry – Atlanta (FX)
Deon Cole – black-ish (ABC)
Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Tyler James Williams – Abbott Elementary (ABC) (WINNER)
William Stanford Davis – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Adrian Holmes – Bel-Air (Peacock)
Amin Joseph – Snowfall (FX)
Caleb McLaughlin – Stranger Things (Netflix)
Cliff “Method Man” Smith – Power Book II: Ghost (Starz) (WINNER)
J. Alphonse Nicholson – P-Valley (Starz)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Aldis Hodge – Black Adam (Warner Bros. Pictures / New Line Cinema)
Cliff “Method Man” Smith – On The Come Up (Paramount Pictures)
Jalyn Hall – Till (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures)
John Boyega – The Woman King (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Tenoch Huerta – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel Studios) (WINNER)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Janelle James – Abbott Elementary (ABC) (WINNER)
Jenifer Lewis – black-ish (ABC)
Marsai Martin – black-ish (ABC)
Sheryl Lee Ralph – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Wanda Sykes – The Upshaws (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Adjoa Andoh – Bridgerton (Netflix)
Bianca Lawson – Queen Sugar (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Loretta Devine – P-Valley (Starz) (WINNER)
Susan Kelechi Watson – This Is Us (NBC)
Tina Lifford – Queen Sugar (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Outstanding Costume Design (Television or Film)

Francine Jamison-Tanchuck – Emancipation (Apple Studios)
Gersha Phillips, Carly Nicodemo, Heather Constable, Christina Cattle, Sheryl Willock, Becky MacKinnon – Star Trek: Discovery (Paramount+)
Gersha Phillips, Carly Nicodemo, Lieze Van Tonder, Lynn Paulsen, Tova Harrison – The Woman King (Tristar Pictures)
Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel Studios) (WINNER)
Trayce Gigi Field – A League of Their Own (Prime Video)

Outstanding Make-up (Television or Film)

Angie Wells – Cheaper by the Dozen (Disney+)
Debi Young, Sandra Linn, Ngozi Olandu Young, Gina Bateman – We Own This City (HBO Max) (WINNER)
Michele Lewis – The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (Apple Studios)
Ren Rohling, Teresa Vest, Megan Areford – Emergency (Amazon Studios)
Zabrina Matiru – Surface (Apple Studios)

Outstanding Hairstyling (Television or Film)

Camille Friend – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel Studios) (WINNER)
Curtis Foreman, Ryan Randall – RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (Paramount+)
Louisa V. Anthony, Deaundra Metzger, Maurice Beaman – Till (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures)
Mary Daniels, Kalin Spooner, Darrin Lyons, Eric Gonzalez – All American (The CW)
Tracey Moss, Jerome Allen, Tamika Dixon, Lawrence “Jigga” Simmons, Jason Simmons – Fantasy Football (Paramount+)