The NAACP's annual celebration honoring outstanding achievements of people of color in movies, television, music, sports and literature is back, and we have all the info you'll need on how to watch the 2024 NAACP Image Awards whether you have cable or not.
Just like the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month, the 55th NAACP Image Awards will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, during which awards in categories like "Outstanding Motion Picture," "Outstanding Drama Series," "Outstanding Album" and "Entertainer of the Year" will be handed out live. (Non–televised Image Awards categories were livestreamed from March 11th through the 14th on the Image Awards website.)
This year sees eight new categories being introduced to the awards lineup, including "Outstanding Youth Performance in a Motion Picture," "Outstanding Original Score for TV/Film," "Outstanding Stunt Ensemble" and "Outstanding Graphic Novel."
Returning this year is The Equalizer star Queen Latifah as the night's host, overseeing a night jam-packed with stars, including nominees like Rustin and The Color Purple actor Colman Domingo, The Bear and Abbott Elementary star Ayo Edebiri, and R&B icon Usher.
Ready to tune in? Here is everything you need to know on how to watch the 2024 NAACP Image Awards and what to expect.
HOW TO WATCH THE 2024 NAACP IMAGE AWARDS
The 2024 NAACP Image Awards will air on Saturday, March 16 at 8pm Eastern on BET. BET is a network offered in many cable packages. However, if you've cut the cord to traditional cable/satellite television, it's also a channel available on numerous live TV streaming services, including Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, Fubo TV and YouTube TV. It will also be available to stream on Paramount+ with Showtime, which gives you live access to your local CBS channel.
Additionally, the awards ceremony will be simulcast across other Paramount Global networks including BET HER, CBS, CMT, Comedy Central, LOGO, MTV, MTV2, Paramount Network, POP TV, Smithsonian, TV Land and VH1.
Who's hosting the 2024 NAACP Image Awards?
Queen Latifah is back at the host of this year's NAACP Image Awards, after serving as the ceremony's emcee last year. In 2023, the Grammy-winning rapper and Oscar-nominated film actress became the first woman to serve as solo host of the Image Awards since Diana Ross did hosting duties back in 2000.
Along with hosting the evening's festivities, Queen Latifah is also a NAACP nominee in "Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series" for her work in The Equalizer, joining the likes of Angela Bassett (9-1-1), India Amarteifio (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), Octavia Spencer (Truth Be Told) and Zoe Saldaña (Special Ops: Lioness) in the category.
Who's nominated at the 2024 NAACP Image Awards?
Speaking of nominees, the nominations were announced on January 25, 2024, with the film The Color Purple leading the motion picture categories with 16 nominations. Elsewhere in the movie section are Rustin with eight nods, American Fiction with seven and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with six.
In the television and streaming categories, school sitcom Abbott Elementary has nine nominations, with Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story and Snowfall tied at six nods and Bel-Air and Swarm scoring five apiece.
As for music, Victoria Monét and Usher lead the nominations with six and five nominations, respectively, including categories like "Outstanding Soul/R&B Song" and "Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album."
Usher is also up for a special honor, The President's Award, which is presented by the NAACP president in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service. Previous winners include Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill and John Legend.
Other special honorees include poet-activist Amanda Gorman, who is receiving the Chairman's Award, and creative director and costume designer June Ambrose, the recipient of this year's Vanguard Award. R&B group New Edition will take home the prestigious Hall of Fame Award and music legend Frankie Beverly will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Check out the full list of 2024 NAACP Image Awards nominees here.
