Posted by | Ray Cornelius
CONGRATS to “Empire” star Jussie Smollett! The singer and actor will receive the NAACP Chairman’s Award during this year’s telecast on Friday, February 5 at 9 p.m. Also being recognized is Grammy Award-winning vocalist John Legend. The Oscar winning-songwriter will pick up this year’s President’s Award.
An all-star lineup of talent is also confirmed to attend and/or present at this year’s show including Will Smith, Viola Davis, Gabrielle Union, Gina Rodriguez, Kerry Washington, Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tika Sumpter, Keegan-Michael Key, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Chadwick Boseman, Shameik Moore, Abraham Attah, Michael B. Jordan, Tracee Ellis Ross, Loretta Devine, Shonda Rhimes, Omari Hardwick, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Sanaa Lathan, RonReaco Lee, Keke Palmer, Teyonah Parris, Michael Ealy, Tom Joyner, LeToya Luckett, Ken Jeong, F. Gary Gray and more. Also expected are cast members from “Empire” – Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Bryshere Gray, Grace Gealy, Trai Byers, Serayah, Gabourey Sidibe, Ta’Rhonda Jones, Kaitlin Doubleday, Lee Daniels and Danny Strong.
The award ceremony is being hosted once again by “black-ish” star Anthony Anderson along with a red carpet pre-show hosted by Terrence J and Tracey Edmonds. Click here to see all of the nominees!
Click here to read Jussie’s current story in OUT Magazine where he dishes on everything from Black Lives Matter to why he’s still waiting on his “boo” to show up!
The NAACP Image Awards airs live beginning at 9 p.m. EST on TV One.
Photo Credits: sfltimes.com and OUT.com