BET Awards 2023: Photos From the Red Carpet – Billboard

The 2023 BET Awards celebrated hip-hop’s 50th anniversary on Sunday night (June 25) from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, and the stars certainly showed out on the red carpet before the show.

U.K. stars FLO and PinkPantheress walked their first U.S. red carpet, while Summer Walker and Lil Meech — the latter of whom was nominated for best actor — made their red-carpet debut as a couple. And decades of hip-hop stars from the Sugarhill Gang to Soulja Boy to Ice Spice came together on Culture’s Biggest Night to honor the genre’s legacy.

Of the six televised awards, Latto and Coco Jones were present to accept their prizes for best female hip-hop artist and best new artist, respectively. (Fun fact: Latto won best new artist at the 2022 BET Awards.) Jones’ best new artist win marks the first time a female R&B singer (as opposed to a rapper) has picked up the prize since SZA won five years ago. Busta Rhymes received the lifetime achievement award from Swizz Beatz and Marlon Wayans — as well as Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Diddy, Dave Chappelle and more in a video montage tribute. Lil Uzi Vert opened the show with an unreleased song from their upcoming album Pink Tape (out Friday) and their Jersey Club smash “Just Wanna Rock,” while Ice Spice brought the Bronx to the BET Awards for her first awards show performance, and GloRilla – who had six nominations going into the ceremony – performed her latest single “Lick or Sum.”  

Other celebrity guests include NLE Choppa, Blxst, Rae Sremmurd, Summer Walker, DaBaby, Moneybagg Yo, Boosie and Victoria Monét.

See all the photos below.