Bet Awards 2024: Usher Is Honored, Will Smith Returns, and the Election is Top of Mind

Usher accepted the lifetime achievement award at the 2024 BET Awards - even if the superstar mused it might be a bit early.
The Grammy winner stayed on his feet as a parade of artists performed his hits - Childish Gambino kicked it off with "U Don´t Have to Call," joined by Keke Palmer, who took the lead on "You Make Me Wanna..." Coco Jones appeared in the audience for a sultry rendition of "There Goes My Baby," serenading Usher and his wife Jenn Goicoechea, The Associated Press said.
Summer Walker hit the stage for "Good Good," Tinashe did "Nice & Slow," Marsha Ambrosius tackled "Superstar" and Chlöe performed "Good Kisser." Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét teamed up for "Bad Girl," mirroring Usher and Beyoncé´s choreography from their performance of the song. Latto brought the energy for "Yeah!" In some ways, the homage underscored the women that carried much of the night - dominating the performances.
After introductions by Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, Usher accepted the award from music executive L.A. Reid.
"Getting here has definitely not been easy, but it has been worth it," Usher began his lengthy speech, reflecting on his career, which has spanned over three decades. He questioned the timing, saying, "I´m still running and gunning and I still love this (expletive) like I did when I was 8 years old," he said.
Much of his speech couldn't be heard to audiences at home because it was censored.
"I forgive each and every person who had anything to say negative about me because it only motivated me to be who I am," he said at one point.
Earlier in the night, Will Smith stood in a circle of fire - joined by Fridayy and the gospel choir Sunday Service - to make the live debut of his latest single, "You Can Make It."
"I don´t know who needs this right now," Smith opened his set. "But I am here to tell you, you can make it."
Mid-way through, Kirk Franklin joined, and then two rapped together. "Nobody gets an easy ride," Smith, who is in the midst of his comeback from slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars two years ago, told the room. "There is wisdom in that fire. Dance in your darkest moments."
The forthcoming presidential election was a huge topic of conversation throughout the show. After Childish Gambino presented Killer Mike with the album of the year award for "Michael," the rapper used his acceptance speech to address his Grammys arrest and voting.
"Technically, I was not supposed to be here. I was put in handcuffs, and I was marched out of this building. But I want to tell you, look at God. ´Cause I´m back, baby. I´m back and I´m winning," he said in his speech. Killer Mike was arrested at the Grammys earlier this year over a physical altercation he said was caused by an "over-zealous" security guard; he was not charged over the incident.
"They going to tell you who we vote for is important," he continued his speech, "And it is who we vote for on the big stage. It´s important, but it´s more important you know who your city council person is, who your prosecutor is."
Megan Thee Stallion opened the show by emerging from an egg - a metaphor for her a new musical rebirth - before diving into with an energetic medley of her new singles "Hiss" and "Boa."
"BET, Where my girls at?" she said, shouting out Monét and Jones in the crowd before launching into "Where Them Girls At" - a track that's been an immediate fan favorite since Friday's release of her third studio album, "Megan."
Taraji P. Henson hosted the show at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Her opening monologue was a performance, Henson rapping "It's about us," in a loose parody of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," which he released in the midst of his reignited feud with Drake.
"No beef in here tonight," she joked, "Can we say plant-based?"
Tyla, the Johannesburg , South African amapiano superstar, won two honors on the show, starting with best international act.
Later in the night, she'd take home the award for best new artist. "This is crazy," she said. "I just want to dedicate this one to Africa."
Monét, who earlier this year won the Grammy for best new artist, made her BET debut and set a high bar for performances, condensing a full set into a few mins with three costume changes and a pair of songs, "On My Mama" and "Alright."
Then Sexyy Red took the stage, performing her smooth bedroom ballad "U My Everything" before moving to another stage and a costume change - tackling "Get It Sexyy" in front of an LED screen depicting the White House and dancers dressed like the Secret Service.
The show took a tonal shift when VanVan and Heiress Harris, two child rappers, their empowerment anthem "Be You" in a school room set. Harris is the daughter of rapper T.I. and singer Tiny Harris.
Best female R&B/pop artist went to SZA and best actress to Regina King, both of whom were not in attendance; the BET HER award went to Monét for "On My Mama." She brought her mother up to accept it.
Country musician Tanner Adell brought her "Buckle Bunny" and her new song, "Cowboy Break My Heart." GloRilla emerged from above, descending to join her dancers for "Yeah Glo!" and "Wanna Be" - the latter of which saw a surprise appearance from Megan Thee Stallion. Shaboozey kept the country coming with "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and was joined by rapper J-Kwon, who appears on the track, creating an unexpected and rewarding collaboration across genres.
Lauryn Hill closed the night, beginning with "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" going into "Lost Ones," before introducing her son YG Marley for his reggae tracks "Survival" and "Praise Jah In The Moonlight." Best of all: Wyclef Jean appeared, and the trio - in front of a full-band - performed Fugees´ "Fu-Gee-La." Pras, the third member of Fugees, was not present. The rapper, who was accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies, was convicted in April.

A long-awaited showdown will take place this week in a historic Wild West frontier town, with both sides seeking justice for a fatal bullet fired from a six-shooter.
But if Alec Baldwin's trial for manslaughter sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie, the victims, the stakes and the tragic consequences are all too real, said AFP.
In October 2021, on the New Mexico set of his low-budget Western "Rust," a gun pointed by Baldwin discharged a live round, killing the film's cinematographer and wounding its director.
Such is Baldwin's A-list fame and the rarity of on-set deaths in the tightly controlled US film industry, the story quickly became a global sensation.
It also polarized opinion, with sympathetic observers viewing Baldwin -- an actor who did not know the prop gun contained a real bullet -- as a victim, and others seeing the death as a result of his allegedly reckless behavior.
Almost three years later, after multiple failed attempts by Baldwin's formidable New York legal team to have the case thrown out, those same arguments will be settled by a jury at a court case in Santa Fe starting on Tuesday.
If found guilty, Baldwin faces a maximum 18 months in prison -- the same term already being served by the film's armorer, who was convicted in the same courthouse earlier this year.
'Basic gun safety'
The death of Halyna Hutchins occurred during a rehearsal in a small chapel on the Bonanza Creek Ranch, 20 miles (30 kilometers) outside Santa Fe, on a sunny afternoon mid-way through the filming of "Rust."
Baldwin was practicing a scene in which his character, an aging outlaw who has been cornered in the church by two marshals, draws his Colt gun.
The actor says he did not pull the revolver's trigger and had been told that the gun was safe.
Live bullets are in any case banned from movie sets, and Baldwin has argued that it was not his responsibility as an actor to check.
Yet the gun did go off. And the trial of Hannah Gutierrez, the armorer who loaded the weapon, revealed many of the arguments that the prosecution will level against Baldwin, who was also a producer on the movie.
At the time, Gutierrez's defense lawyers said Baldwin "violated some of the most basic gun safety rules you can ever learn," including never pointing a gun at a person unless you intend to fire it.
"Alec Baldwin's conduct and his lack of gun safety inside that church on that day is something that he's going to have to answer for," said special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, in a rare moment of agreement between the two sides.
"Not with you and not today. That'll be with another jury, on another day," Morrissey said.
'No control'
That day has now arrived, with jury selection on Tuesday and opening arguments expected Wednesday.
That the matter is being heard in court at all is already a victory of sorts for prosecutors, who have fended off multiple attempts by Baldwin to have the case dismissed.
Among these, Baldwin's lawyers said damage to the gun caused by an FBI testing lab meant the actor could not get a fair trial.
That is significant because the FBI found the gun could not have fired without its trigger being pulled -- a conclusion that the defense says they were robbed of a chance to disprove.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer was not convinced and ordered the trial to proceed.
Baldwin's team have also suggested that his status as a celebrity and liberal darling has provided incentives for prosecutors to pursue him with unusual tenacity.
The prosecution's response to recent pre-trial proceedings offered further insight into how they are likely to attack Baldwin in court.
Court filings allege that Baldwin's unpredictable behavior contributed to the tragedy and that he kept changing his story in its aftermath.
"Mr Baldwin was frequently screaming and cursing at himself, at crew members or at no one and not for any particular reason," Morrissey wrote.
"To watch Mr Baldwin's conduct on the set of 'Rust' is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct affects those around him."
The trial is expected to take around 10 days.

Bet Awards 2024: Usher Is Honored, Will Smith Returns, and the Election is Top of Mind