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.
Hinge users who have children can opt-in to a $100 stipend up to $25,000 for childcare. Logan Ury, the director of relationship science for the online dating platform, noted the issue as an obstacle for single parents who want to go out on dates. "We have heard that singles with children have a hard time going on dates for one of the reasons being that it's just hard to find childcare and it's hard to be able to afford it," she said. Ury also said that the hot topic among Hinge's users is mental health and the prioritizing of mental health.
Dolly Parton, Eminem, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon are just a few of the nominees announced for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2022 induction. Results of the voting will be released in May, however, the ceremony date has yet to be announced.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of HereAfter AI discusses how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed; Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover' explains how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Humboldt Current.'
According to the Federal Reserve, the investment gap between Black and white Americans has remained substantial, with only 34 percent of Black households joining in on the historic rise in the markets. Stacey Tisdale, the first Black woman to have reported from the NYSE and the CEO and president of Mind Money Media Inc., said that the data might not be as disheartening as it seems. "I think that number is very deceiving. That Federal Reserve study is actually from 2019, and it's very important that we all look beneath that number and look beneath the surface because there is nothing short of an investing revolution going on in the Black community," Tisdale said.
James Vlahos, Co-Founder and CEO of HereAfter AI, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed.
Ava Rathenberg, Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover,' joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community.
An award-winning performance by the LSU Tiger Girls dance team is going viral on TikTok, but like many other viral tiktoks, this one had a larger story to tell. The story goes back to 2021 when for the first time in 22 years, the LSU dance team was informed it could not compete at Universal Dance Association Nationals. The team made their anticipated return to UDA Nationals this year with a performance that delivered a strong and clear message to their university. The LSU Tiger Girls walked away from the competition with their first national championship title in 12 years, redemption against the university that held them back, and of course- millions of new fans and friends on TikTok.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL over racial discrimination, exposing a long-running problem the NFL has had with diversity in its top coaching and management positions. Eric Mitchell, the president and CEO of public relations and communications company LifeFlip Media, joined Cheddar News to delve into the scandal rocking the pro football world just before the Super Bowl. "There is a problem. If you look at who owns teams in the NFL, it's right, it's a good old boys club, it's a bunch of old white guys," he said. "So, it's exposing something that's been around for ages and now that we're sitting in 2022 has come up."
This April, Madison Square Garden will be hosting the first-ever women's boxing match to headline at the arena in its 140 years of history in boxing. Undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, and seven-division champion, Amanda Serrano, will go head-to-head for a career-high guaranteed seven-figure purse for both of them. The pair joined Cheddar News to talk about the upcoming "fight of their lives." "I mean, this is the first step I believe," said Serrano. "Unheard of, two women headlining the Garden, we get in the biggest paydays of our career, I hope it continues to break down barriers."
