5 memorable moments from the 2026 BET Awards: From Cardi B to Lauryn Hill

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The 2026 BET Awards brought music, drama and assemblage to the Peacock Theater connected Sunday night.

“Culture’s Biggest Night,” arsenic the ceremonial bills itself, included performances from a agelong lineup of talent, including Cardi B, Kehlani and Don Toliver, positive rousing tributes to the precocious trailblazer D’Angelo and Living Legend Icon Award recipient Lauryn Hill.

Following an electrifying opening show from T.I., the evening’s host, comedian and net sensation Druski, descended onto the signifier suspended from the ceiling, a motion to his viral “flying pastor” sketch. The 31-year-old comic besides celebrated making a small Black past of his ain by becoming the youngest performer to ever big the awards.

Family was a large taxable of the night, with galore stars spotlighting their talented progeny, arsenic was the value of soulful artistry.

“Black creativity is 1 of the astir almighty forces successful the world,” said euphony enforcement Sylvia Rhone, who was honored with the ceremony’s Ultimate Icon Award. “We marque the algorithm. It doesn’t marque us.”

Here are 5 much memorable moments from the night.

Cardi B got “Pretty and Petty”

Cardi B accepts the pistillate hep hop creator grant during the BET Awards 2026 astatine the Peacock Theater successful Los Angeles.

Not lone did Cardi B pb the battalion with six full nominations, she took location the grant for pistillate hep hop creator and delivered 1 of the night’s astir anticipated performances. Duirng her performance, eagle-eyed viewers would cognize that past night’s triumph marked her seventh BET award, since she brought retired the different six for a picture-perfect infinitesimal during “Pretty and Petty.”

The song, a diss way aimed astatine chap rapper BIA, includes the lyric “Do she adjacent got a BET award?” After the show, Cardi B told fans connected Instagram Live not to bully the song’s intended target, but said she would inactive proceed to execute it due to the fact that it’s 1 of the “hottest songs” from her 2025 album, “Am I the Drama?”

Doechii and SZA represented originative sisterhood

SZA, left, and Doechii astatine 2026 BET Awards astatine the Peacock Theater successful Los Angeles.

After winning the Her Award for their collaboration, “Girl, Get Up,” Doechii and SZA accepted the grant together, oozing communal emotion and respect.

“Y’all don’t recognize however hard maine and SZA worked putting that grounds together,” Doechii said successful her speech. “It was astatine a clip where, girl, I was going done it. But I’m truthful gladsome that you pulled done for me, sister.”

“Anything for you, always,” SZA responded.

The 2 attempted to support talking arsenic they were played disconnected by a saxophonist, which big Druski had warned astir earlier successful the evening.

They aboriginal came backmost unneurotic onstage arsenic portion of the monolithic Lauryn Hill tribute, singing the Fugees’ “Ready oregon Not.”

It was a household affair

Anelise Foxx and Jamie Foxx execute during the 2026 BET Awards astatine the Peacock Theater successful Los Angeles.

Apparently unbothered by imaginable “nepo baby” accusations, stars including Jamie Foxx, T.I. and Lauryn Hill featured their children successful their performances (or, successful Hill’s case, the tribute show dedicated to her artistry).

Foxx and his 17 year-old daughter, Anelise, performed the intro to Kehlani’s opus “Folded,” with the teen playing immoderate earnestly awesome guitar. T.I. performed his hits “Top Back” and “Let ‘Em Know” sitting atop a car, with his son, King, successful the driver’s seat.

Three of Hill’s six children — Selah, YG and Zion — sang their mother’s euphony successful a moving tribute, and she shouted retired her lad John and girl Sara successful a speech.

Artists paid touching tribute to those we’ve lost

Erica Campbell performs during the BET Awards 2026 astatine the Peacock Theater successful Los Angeles.

“Each year, we are tasked with acknowledging those we mislaid and however to capable the insurmountable void they’ve near successful our lives and successful our hearts. I’ve learned that adjacent successful grief, it is the indelible bequest they near down that gets america done the toughest times,” said gospel creator Erica Campbell earlier launching into a soulful rendition of “I Love The Lord” successful grant of the songwriter Richard Smallwood and euphony enforcement Clive Davis, whose protégé Whitney Houston popularized the song.

The authoritative In Memoriam was not the lone abstraction dedicated to honoring artists who precocious passed. A bevy of performers paid homage to beloved R&B icon D’Angelo, including his erstwhile band, The Vanguard, positive Ari Lennox, Raye, George Clinton, Durand Bernarr and BJ The Chicago Kid. D’Angelo’s children introduced the medley, which was acceptable against a backdrop of level to ceiling windows looking retired connected a starry sky.

Lauryn Hill got her flowers successful a large way

Lauryn Hill performs during the BET Awards 2026 astatine the Peacock Theater successful Los Angeles.

By far, the top infinitesimal of the nighttime was the star-studded tribute of Lauryn Hill’s euphony vocation — though it’s debatable whether the 15-minute medley, video tribute, speeches and astonishment performances by the creator herself tin beryllium called a singular “moment.”

Following an instauration by rap icon Ice Cube and a video contextualizing Hill’s information for the inaugural Living Legend Icon Award (as if anyone successful the assemblage doubted her influence), a knockout lineup took the stage. The War and Treaty started with 1993’s “Joyful, Joyful,” earlier SZA and Doechii took implicit with “Ready oregon Not.” Tems and Tierra Whack took connected “Fu-Gee-La,” portion Nas and Doja Cat sang “If I Ruled the World.” Lizzo and Rapsody led the assemblage connected “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and Common and Queen Latifah stuck the landing with “Lost Ones.” Solo moments from Selah, YG and Zion to their mother’s tearful pridefulness rounded retired the performance.

As if that weren’t enough, Hill amazed the assemblage by performing 2 of her ain hits, “Ex-Factor” and “Everything Is Everything,” overmuch to the room’s delight (it’s not each time you get the accidental to ticker Hill bash her thing).

“When I made ‘Miseducation,’ I was inspired by you,” she told the assemblage successful her speech. “I was inspired by the beauty. I was inspired by our potential. I knew it was possible. I dreamed it, I saw it, and I had to manifest it done song.”

View each the winners astatine bet.com.

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