Teyana Taylor broke down in tears as her idol Janet Jackson presented her with a prize at the 2026 BET Awards.
Teyana Taylor broke down in tears when she was honoured by Janet Jackson at the BET Awards
The 35-year-old actress/musician was honoured with the Icon of the Year award during the ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California on Sunday night (28.06.26) and she was overwhelmed when Janet took to the stage to give a tribute and present her with the gong.
Janet said: “It seems like only yesterday a rose from Harlem grew out of the concrete. and blossomed into our Icon of the Year. I’ve enjoyed watching you, as you know, over the years.
“Watching you defy expectations, rewrite the rules and lead with an unstoppable work ethic.
“You possess an unflinching perfectionism, a devotion woven into everything you touch. Your focus and vision summon into being what most would call impossible. You carry a calling from above, and the world is made more luminous with the art that you have given it. This year, it belongs to you.”
Teyana then took to the stage and cried as she said: “Oh my God. B****, I’m gagging. They did not tell me Janet was coming, b****, and it’s so crazy because when [singer] Kehlani said: ‘Janet is here’, I said, b****, is that the surprise?’ I wasn’t sure!”
She went on to thank Janet for inspiring her, saying: “I love you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you for always seeing me. Thank you for every text, every hug, every talk. You are my biggest inspiration.
“Everybody who knows me know how I feel about you, the fact that you even took up the time to be here to celebrate with me, this is crazy. I love you so much. Like, you don’t even understand.”
Teyana went on to talk about her career in music and acting as well as her recent stint in culinary school, telling the audience: “I worked my a** off 20 years for this.
“So I’m not accepting what I’ve earned with arrogance; I’m accepting what I’ve earned with gratitude. And this year alone, I continue to give the world the artist, actress, director, choreographer, creative director, stylist, designer, writer, producer and chef!
“I graduated [from culinary school] in September, y’all.”
Teyana also picked up prizes including the Fashion Vanguard Award, video director of the year and best actress.
The night also featured a tribute to Fugees star Lauryn Hill, who was presented with the Living Legend Icon Award, and the singer used her speech to thank her parents for helping her succeed in life.
Lauryn said: “I do this because I love y’all. You know?. I do this because I want you to have everything that I experienced.
“I had wonderful parents who loved on me, poured into me and protected m. And once I realized that not everybody got to have that experience, I felt like it was my duty, my responsibility to share as much love and to pour into [as] much people as I possibly could. Music was a way for me to do that.”
She added: “I fight for y’all. Everybody may not know about it, but I fight for y’all. Fighting for y’all is me fighting for myself. It’s me fighting for my children.
“It’s me fighting for my parents. It’s me fighting for my grandparents. It’s me fighting for my community, alright?
“I have a desire to make music as well as I can to communicate with people as good as I can. I want people to know that that’s what we do. I want people to know that that’s what we can do …
“We hold different gifts. Someone else’s gifting might be fashion. Might be hair. Might be consoling someone. It might be this microphone. But that gifting is very important because somebody out there needs your gift. So don’t sell your gift short.”
Lauryn added the day was extra special for her because it was also her son John’s 23rd birthday – and he came onstage to give his mother a hug.
The singer said: “I’m an artist here, but you know what? I’m a mother. My son John celebrates his 23rd birthday today, and he gave us permission to do this.”
Other awards went to Cardi B, who was named best female Hip-Hop artist award, while Kendrick Lamar won the best male Hip-Hop artist award, Leon Thomas was named best male R and B/pop artist award and Kehlani took the same award in the female category and she also nabbed video of the year for Folded.
Clipse claimed album of the year for Let God Sort Em Out. They were also named best group and they took home best collaboration for Chains and Whips – their track with Kendrick Lamar.
The Pulse Award went to Druski, Doechii and SZA landed the Her award for their collaboration Girl, Get Up, Olivia Dean received the award for best new artist and Michael B. Jordan was named best actor with his movie Sinners claiming the top film title.
