The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the American-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Over 40 categories of the Image Awards are voted on by the NAACP members. Honorary awards (similar to the Academy Honorary Award) have also been included, such as the President's Award, the Chairman's Award, the Entertainer of the Year, the Activist of the Year, and the Hall of Fame Award. Beyoncé is the most awarded individual with 25 wins as a solo artist.
History The awards ceremony was conceived by Toni Vaz during an April 1967 NAACP branch meeting in Beverly Hills. Vaz named it the Image Awards as she "wanted a better image for the people who worked in the industry," and wanted to "put this award show together to thank the producers for giving good roles to people of color." Vaz stated that the branch president liked the idea, but when she called members and friends to enlist volunteers for an awards show committee, no one volunteered. Vaz then contacted numerous Black celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr., who hosted the first meeting of the NAACP Beverly Hills Hollywood Branch in his home; Sidney Poitier, whom she had worked with on the film Porgy and Bess; and Ivan Dixon, an actor, director and producer of Hogan's Heroes at the time. Vaz also wrote letters to secure sponsors for the event and booked the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the first NAACP Image Awards show was held on August 13, 1967. The ceremony was presented by activists Maggie Hathaway, Sammy Davis Jr. and Willis Edwards, all three of whom were leaders of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP branch.
Due to changes in timing of the awards, no awards ceremony was held the following years: 1973, as the timing was changed to honor a full calendar year early in the following year. 1979, as the 11th annual awards were held in June 1978 and the 12th annual awards were held in January 1980. The awards reverted to a "late-in-year" ceremony for 1980 with the 13th annual awards held in December 1980. 1991, as the timing returned to early in the following calendar year to honor the previous year's work. 1995, when the awards were canceled due to financial concerns.
In 1982, the NAACP Image Awards was televised for the first time with the 15th ceremony. Initially, the NAACP Image Awards aired locally in Los Angeles on KHJ-TV (currently known as KCAL-TV) although the 1982 and 1983 ceremonies were syndicated nationally. Willis Edwards, former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood Branch of the NAACP, contacted then-NBC president Brandon Tartikoff to nationally broadcast the 19th NAACP Image Awards, which was held at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on December 14, 1986. The ceremony was broadcast on NBC on January 17, 1987, as a 90-minute special at 11:30 pm, preempting the slot usually filled by Saturday Night Live.
Initially, the Image Awards aired in a late night slot on NBC in the weeks when Saturday Night Live did not air a new episode, but in subsequent years, it aired on primetime on Fox and continued to air on primetime when it returned to NBC. The award show aired as a primetime telecast for the first time on April 23, 1996, for its 27th edition as it began its 16-year run on Fox. The award show was broadcast live for the first time on March 2, 2007, for its 38th edition (the ceremony was broadcast with tape delay prior to 2007). The Image Awards returned to NBC for its 43rd edition in 2012.
From 2014 to 2018, the Black-owned cable network TV One aired the Image Awards. The awards currently air on BET with a simulcast on its sister networks including CBS.
The New York firm Society Awards manufactures the trophy since its redesign in 2008.
Cultural impact The NAACP Image Awards has received national attention and dubbed as the "Black Oscars/Emmys/Grammys" award show from the African-American and Latino community, as it is an important prestigious award celebrating artists and entertainers of color that may have been overlooked from by the mainstream film, television, theater and music award counterparts (EGOT) due to racial seclusion or low interest from film and television studios. Whereas, it created more exposure for content on a wide spectrum of urban media versus other awards shows where they can be celebrated and appreciated. Actors such as Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Taraji P. Henson and many others expressed the differences of not being visually seen by the industry's standard and how artists and entertainers should look to the NAACP Image Awards as the highest achievement. The campaign of #OscarSoWhite began as a protest after seeing few people of color being nominated or win in major categories at the Academy Awards. Since then, minor adjustments have been made for inclusion as more people of color have become nominated and win at the mainstream prestigious award ceremonies.
Event dates and locations # Date Host(s) Location 1st August 13, 1967Maggie Hathaway, Sammy Davis Jr., Willis Edwards The Beverly Hilton 2nd September 22, 1968 The Beverly Hilton 3rd October 11, 1969 4th November 15, 1970 5th November 21, 1971 6th November 18, 1972 1973 – not presented, timing changed to have achievements of a calendar year honored early in following year 7th January 19, 1974 Hollywood Palladium 8th January 18, 1975 9th February 7, 1976 10th April 24, 1977 11th June 9, 1978 **On the top left corner of the page it says Sunday, June 11, 1978. Deniece Williams/Adam Wade/Glynn Turman/Aretha Franklin/Don Mitchell/Judy Pace Century Plaza Hotel 12th January 27, 1980p. 164: "with the honorary chairman, Jack Valenti, present to make the announcement of nominations. ... The moment of truth had arrived. January 27, 1980 ... Show time! ... A rousing sendoff with ... a few choice words from co-hosts Luis Gossett, Jr., Rita Moreno, Ted Lange, Benjamin Hooks, Valenti;"Louis Gossett Jr./Rita Moreno/Ted Lange/Benjamin Hooks/Jack Valenti Hollywood Palladium 13th December 7, 1980* Robert Guillaume 14th December 6, 1981* 15th December 5, 1982 **Date on top left corner of the page says Tues., Dec. 7, 1982 16th December 4, 1983 Jayne Kennedy/George Peppard/Michael Warren 17th December 1984 18th December 1985 19th December 14, 1986 Debbie Allen/Denzel Washington Wiltern Theatre 20th December 13, 1987 21st December 1988 22nd December 9, 1989 23rd December 9, 1990 1991 – not presented, timing changed to have achievements of a calendar year honored early in following year 24th January 11, 1992 Pasadena Civic Auditorium 25th January 16, 1993 26th January 5, 1994 1995 – canceled due to financial concerns 27th April 6, 1996* Whitney Houston, Denzel Washington Pasadena Civic Auditorium 28th February 8, 1997 Arsenio Hall, Patti LaBelle 29th February 14, 1998 Vanessa L. Williams, Gregory Hines 30th February 14, 1999 Mariah Carey, Blair Underwood 31st February 12, 2000 Diana Ross 32nd February 23, 2001 Chris Tucker Universal Amphitheatre 33rd March 3, 2002 34th March 8, 2003 Cedric the Entertainer 35th March 6, 2004 Tracee Ellis Ross/Golden Brooks/Persia White/Jill Marie Jones 36th March 19, 2005 Chris Tucker Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 37th February 26, 2006 Cuba Gooding Jr. Shrine Auditorium 38th March 2, 2007 LL Cool J 39th February 14, 2008 D. L. Hughley 40th February 12, 2009 Halle Berry, Tyler Perry 41st February 26, 2010 Anika Noni Rose, Hill Harper 42nd March 4, 2011 Wayne Brady, Holly Robinson Peete 43rd February 17, 2012 Sanaa Lathan, Anthony Mackie 44th February 1, 2013 Steve Harvey 45th February 22, 2014 Anthony Anderson Pasadena Civic Auditorium 46th February 6, 2015 47th February 5, 2016 48th February 11, 2017 49th January 15, 2018 50th March 30, 2019 Dolby Theatre 51st February 22, 2020 Pasadena Civic Auditorium 52nd March 27, 2021 Virtual 53rd February 26, 2022 54th February 25, 2023 Queen Latifah Pasadena Civic Auditorium 55th March 16, 2024 Shrine Auditorium 56th February 22, 2025Deon ColePasadena Civic Auditorium 57th February 28, 2026
Controversies In 1987, the NAACP received criticism for not presenting their Best Actress award for that year. They defended this position, citing a lack of meaningful roles for Black women. In 1990, they were criticized once again for not awarding Best Actress. This was the fourth time it could not find enough nominees for Best Actress. Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the organization's Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch, said, "The [film] industry has yet to show diversity or present realistic leading roles for African-American women."
In several instances, nominees have been perceived as "undeserving" or "unworthy" of recognition by members of the media, fellow celebrities, as well as the general public; in their own defense, some NAACP representatives have stated that the overall quality of an artist's work is the salient issue. This would render certain factors, such as criminal charges or the nominee's history, being inconsequential in this regard. For example, in 1994, rapper Tupac Shakur was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (for Poetic Justice), despite sexual assault charges being filed against him in December 1993. Furthermore, Shakur had been accused of felony counts of forcible sodomy and unlawful detainment in New York City; a woman alleged that he and two male accomplices held her captive, in a hotel room, and restricted her movements, holding her down as a fourth accomplice sodomized her. Shakur was also indicted for two counts of aggravated assault, in an unrelated incident, in which he supposedly shot and wounded two off-duty police officers. The same year, Martin Lawrence was criticized for winning Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series for Martin, after Lawrence had been banned from Saturday Night Live due to sexual content in his opening monologue. In 2004, R. Kelly's Chocolate Factory was nominated for Outstanding Album while he was under indictment for charges related to child pornography.
Other nominees have faced controversy due to their portrayals of major civil rights figures. In 2003, the comedy film Barbershop received five nominations, including Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Supporting Actor (for Cedric the Entertainer's performance); during the film, Cedric's character makes pejorative remarks about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jackson, and Jesse Jackson. This content caused criticism, including Parks' refusal to attend the ceremony. Hip-hop group Outkast received six nominations in 2004, and criticism soon followed, for both them and the NAACP, due to the name of one of their songs being "Rosa Parks". The song had resulted in Parks suing OutKast for defamation over use of her name.
Award categories Motion picture
Outstanding Motion Picture Outstanding Documentary Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Outstanding International Motion Picture Outstanding Independent Motion Picture Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Youth Performance in a Motion Picture Outstanding Character Voice Performance – Motion Picture Outstanding Short-Form (Animated)
Music
Outstanding New Artist Outstanding Female Artist Outstanding Male Artist Outstanding Duo or Group Outstanding Jazz Artist Outstanding Jazz Album Outstanding Jazz Vocal Album Outstanding Gospel Artist Outstanding Gospel Album (Traditional or Contemporary) Outstanding Music Video Outstanding Song (Traditional and Contemporary) Outstanding Album
Literature
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry