All hail the queen! It was a night of Black excellence yesterday during the 2021 BET Awards. Some of everyone was in attendance to see Queen Latifah receive her flowers while she can still smell them, as she took to the stage to accept the 2021 ‘Lifetime Achievement Award!’ In a tribute performance fit for a queen, Lil Kim, Monie Love, MC Lyte, and Rapsody gave some of Latifah’s biggest hits a breath of fresh air by doing a medley of ‘Ladies First’ and ‘U-N-I-T-Y.’
Following the tribute Latifah arrived onstage looking gorgeous with her father, Lancelot Owens, Sr. accept her award. As she began her speech, she thanked people who had been beside her throughout her career, starting with her parents. “There is no way that I could have had the parents that I was born to – my father, my mother, who is still so much in me,” she said. Latifah was very emotional and held up a photo of her late mother, Rita Owens. If you recall, she passed away in 2018 due to Scleroderma, which is an autoimmune disease.
As she continued her speech, she thanked BET for the honor and for creating the platform for Black artists. “When we couldn’t get played on the radio and other places; we couldn’t get our videos played. There was BET that allowed us to be in our fullness and to shine,” said Latifah.” To this night, right now, right here – bless everybody and everyone in the audience for all your support.”
Closing out the award, Latifah thanked her best friend and business partner Shakim Compere, who runs her business ‘Flavor Unit Entertainment,’ with her, but what seemed to have everyone online talking was her shouting out to her longtime rumored partner Eboni Nicholas and her child Rebel, and telling everyone, happy Pride month. While Latifah has never confirmed her sexual identity, it has been a topic of discussion for years.
Once again, congrats Queen Latifah for this honor!
