The show must go on. BET Networks is moving forward with its awards show on Sunday, June 28, although this year don't expect the usual crowd: the event will be remote due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Scott Mills, president of BET, said the network made the decision to go ahead with the awards ceremony months ago, as the first wave of the pandemic brought the country to a standstill.
"When we made the decision in April to proceed with the show, we actually made the decision because we understood as the single, largest event on television celebrating Black culture, celebrating Black accomplishment, celebrating the Black community, and celebrating Black excellence, that now more than ever it was so important to ensure that show went forward."
Now, the awards ceremony finds itself scheduled in the midst of another major movement affecting the Black community. Protesters have been marching for weeks against systemic racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd in late May.
"The show has always been a platform not only to entertain but also to shine a light on those in our community who are working hard to drive change," Mills said.
Just last year, the BET Awards honored the Central Park Five, the Exonerated 5 -- men who served time for rape after they were wrongfully convicted.
This year, Mills is clear: Sunday's event will not be hampered just because everyone is not in the same room. Expect powerful performances and inspiring speeches as the award ceremony celebrates its 20th anniversary and BET Networks marks its 40th anniversary.
"It's a pretty amazing milestone and it's happening at the most incredible time in this country where we have these two plagues impacting specifically the African American community: the disproportionate of COVID-19 on our community and the over 400-year legacy of racism in this country," Mills said.
The BET Awards will be hosted by comedian Amanda Seales, featuring performances from Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, and Jennifer Hudson.
As the first awards ceremony of the coronavirus age, BET is creating the blueprint for award shows to follow, as big events look to take a more remote approach.
"The great thing is the show's really anchored in celebrating the most extraordinary, successful, talented, creative people in our culture; and the stage while in many ways is a platform, a stage is a constraint," Mills said. "When we said to all of this talent, well the one thing we are not going to do is to have everyone perform on the Microsoft stage in LA, the talent actually responded 'Great, we can bring a whole, fresh set of creative approaches to executing on this."
The BET Awards will air June 28 at 8 pm ET/PT on BET and will make its network broadcast premiere on CBS.
Ashleigh Hinde, Founder and CEO of WALDO, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss why now is a good time to make eyecare a priority, and how they are democratizing access to eyecare for all.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: WALDO CEO breaks down why now is a good time to make eyecare a priority, and how they are democratizing access to eyecare for all; COO at PetDx explains how next-generation sequencing technology is being used to detect cancer in pets early; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Inside The Mind of a Con Artist.'
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
Jason Moser, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to talk about the big takeaways from Disney's Q1 report, which showed the company nearing 130 million Disney+ subscribers as parks revenue ticks up.
Shares of Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth surged after the company reported Q3 earnings Wednesday morning, with shares up more than 15 percent at the close of the day's trading session. Despite net revenue declining year-over-year, Canopy beat analyst expectations and has ramped up efforts to develop a "THC ecosystem' in the U.S. Canopy Growth's CEO, David Klein, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the report. He noted that its brands Storz & Bickel vaporizers and BioSteel beverages showed record growth.
Florists are dreading weekend pickups for this year's Valentine's Day, which lands on a Monday. Christina Stembel, founder and CEO of Farmgirl Flowers joined Cheddar News to discuss the challenges presented by shortages caused by supply chain issues, lack of labor, and climate change and how her company is preparing for this year's holiday. “A Monday delivery is just really hard for small businesses like us," said Stembel. "Larger companies have the scale that some of the large transportation carriers will provide a Sunday pick up for Monday delivery, but for small companies like us, that's not an option. So we have to try to convince people to order early."
PLAY, a low-cost airline headquartered in Iceland, is expanding service to New York Stewart International Airport, marking its third destination in the United States. PLAY is the latest affordable carrier to fly onto the scene, debuting its first flights a little more than six months ago. Birgir Jonsson, CEO of PLAY, joined Cheddar to discuss what this expansion means for the airline and what it's been like to lead a new airline during a pandemic. "For us to get into the market now, have the availability of great, brand new aircraft at historically low prices, and basically being able to secure a low operating cost base for the future is a completely rare opportunity," Jonsson said. "We can get into the market now when our competitors are also weak."
