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Cardi B, Leon Thomas, Kehlani and Jalen Brunson among winners as Teyana Taylor, Sylvia Rhone and Lauryn Hill honored at BET Awards 2026
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

Culture/The Apex Times/Jun 29, 12:05 AM EDT

Cardi B, Leon Thomas, Kehlani and Jalen Brunson among winners as Teyana Taylor, Sylvia Rhone and Lauryn Hill honored at BET Awards 2026

The 2026 BET Awards, hosted by Druski, handed out major awards including Icon of the Year to Teyana Taylor, the Ultimate Icon honor to Sylvia Rhone, and the Living Legend Icon Award to Ms. Lauryn Hill.

2 min readEditor-approved Apex article

The 2026 BET Awards handed out multiple top honors on a night headlined by mainstream music and entertainment winners, with the ceremony hosted by Druski. Coverage published June 29, 2026 by Deadline listed Cardi B, Leon Thomas, Kehlani, and Jalen Brunson among the performers and creators receiving awards, alongside additional winners not detailed in the published summary.

Among the most prominently recognized honorees, Teyana Taylor was named Icon of the Year, an award spotlighting an artist’s cultural and creative impact. The Deadline report also identified Sylvia Rhone as the recipient of the Ultimate Icon Award, and Ms. Lauryn Hill as the winner of the Living Legend Icon Award, reflecting lifetime and industry-spanning recognition rather than a single release or project.

In a separate recognition track, the BET Awards also highlighted Leon Thomas and Kehlani, with Deadline’s winners list attributing awards to both artists. Cardi B was similarly included among the winners, underscoring the awards’ emphasis on established charting talent and broader pop-culture reach.

The published winners list also included sports and celebrity audiences through Jalen Brunson, who received an award at the ceremony according to Deadline. The appearance of non-music categories in the winner list reflects BET’s wider programming approach at the awards, spanning culture beyond recording artists.

Deadline’s coverage frames the winners as part of the BET Awards 2026 slate, with the publication providing a consolidated list rather than separate category descriptions for each recipient in the reported summary. The report positions Taylor, Rhone, and Hill as the ceremony’s leading honorees through the Icon and legacy awards.

For audiences and industry stakeholders, the BET Awards are a high-visibility platform that can influence downstream visibility for winners and nominees across media ecosystems. The honorees named in the report, especially those in long-form recognition roles like Ultimate Icon and Living Legend, also represent institutional acknowledgment of careers and executive or creative legacies.

Next steps for viewers and industry observers include checking BET’s official ceremony materials for the complete category breakdown, and verifying additional winners listed beyond the artists and honorees named in the Deadline summary. That full list typically clarifies which awards correspond to specific songs, albums, or professional contributions.

Why It Matters

  • Icon and legacy awards can carry longer-term visibility for recipients’ careers and, for executives and major artists, reinforce institutional recognition within Black entertainment industries.
  • High-profile winners on a widely covered awards stage can affect how audiences and media outlets spotlight artists and entertainers in the weeks following the ceremony.
  • The presence of both music creators and celebrity figures like Jalen Brunson highlights BET Awards’ cross-sector entertainment focus, which can broaden audience reach and engagement.
  • The published winners list, while not fully detailed in the summary, points viewers toward BET’s official category confirmations for the complete slate and specific achievements tied to each award.

Sources

Key Facts

  • Deadline reported that the BET Awards 2026 ceremony was hosted by Druski.
  • Deadline listed Cardi B, Leon Thomas, Kehlani, and Jalen Brunson among the winners.
  • Teyana Taylor received the Icon of the Year Award at the BET Awards 2026.
  • Sylvia Rhone received the Ultimate Icon Award at the BET Awards 2026.
  • Ms. Lauryn Hill received the Living Legend Icon Award at the BET Awards 2026.