2025 NAACP Image Awards: Keke Palmer Named Entertainer of the Year as ‘The Six Triple Eight’ Nabs Two Wins
Keke Palmer took home entertainer of the year and The Six Triple Eight won two awards, including best motion picture, at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards Saturday night.
The Tyler Perry-directed Netflix film also won for best actress in a motion picture, with a truly shocked Kerry Washington accepting that prize.
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“You know how on awards shows when people look surprised, I never believed that they’re really surprised, until Beyoncé at the Grammys,” Washington said. “But I’m just shocked. I’m shocked. Because the women that I’m nominated with are so extraordinary. I love you all so much. I’m honored to be in a category with you.”
She went on to thank her family and the team behind the movie as well as “most importantly,” “the women of ‘The Six Triple Eight’: the 855 women of ‘The Six Triple Eight, who proved to us how extraordinary Black women are, how extraordinary we have always been.”
She continued, “At a time when our history is being ripped from us, when people are trying to get us to not tell our stories, we are telling your stories ladies because you are calling us forward into our greatness and that’s what tonight is about. It’s about all of us being called into our greatness. So remember your greatness because that is what the fight is for.”
Accepting the best motion picture prize, Six Triple Eight producer Nicole Avant also paid tribute to the real-life women behind the film.
“To the women of ‘The Six Triple Eight,’ thank you, thank you, thank you for your greatness,” she said. “Thank you for your strength; thank you for your truth; thank you for your resilience, and this is for you.”
For the best motion picture award, The Six Triple Eight beat out the leading, 14-time film nominee The Piano Lesson, which won two awards in non-televised ceremonies earlier this week but failed to win any awards during Saturday’s televised ceremony. The Six Triple Eight previously picked up three awards in non-televised ceremonies, meaning it won all five of the awards for which it was nominated.
The other best motion picture nominees were six-time contender Bob Marley: One Love, five-time nominee Wicked and Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Bad Boys star Martin Lawrence won for best actor in a motion picture on Saturday but wasn’t in attendance at the ceremony.
Six-time nominee Nickel Boys won three awards earlier in the week, and Wicked won best soundtrack/compilation album on Saturday night and for costume design in a non-televised ceremony on Tuesday.
In the TV categories, Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson won best actress in a comedy series, but also wasn’t present at Saturday’s ceremony. Earlier in the week, Abbott, which received 10 nominations, won best comedy series. Saturday night, Damon Wayans won best actor in a comedy series for his work in Poppa’s House.
Also Saturday, Queen Latifah won best actress in a drama series for her work on The Equalizer, and Michael Rainey Jr. won best actor in a drama series for his work on Power Book II: Ghost.
Earlier in the week, seven-time nominee Cross won best drama series as nine-time nominee Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist won five awards across the limited series categories.
Saturday’s televised ceremony, hosted by Deon Cole and airing on BET and CBS from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, honored Dave Chappelle, former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Wayans family and BET Media Group.
The awards also supported the Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Pasadena communities affected by the recent L.A. wildfires. The NAACP, BET Media Group, WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett and Kole (JSSK) have partnered with L.A. County and — in collaboration with organizations like Community Aid Dena, Altadena Heritage and WalkGood LA — launched the Altadena Community Preservation Fund, designed to protect homeowners from displacement and preserve the community’s cultural heritage.
A complete list of winners in categories presented Saturday night follows.
Entertainer of the Year
Cynthia Erivo
Keke Palmer (WINNER)
Kendrick Lamar
Kevin Hart
Shannon Sharpe
Outstanding Motion Picture
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony Pictures)
Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount Pictures)
The Piano Lesson (Netflix)
The Six Triple Eight (Netflix) (WINNER)
Wicked (Universal Pictures)
Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
André Holland — Exhibiting Forgiveness (Roadside Attractions)
Colman Domingo — Sing Sing (A24)
John David Washington — The Piano Lesson (Netflix)
Kingsley Ben-Adir — Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount Pictures)
Martin Lawrence — Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony Pictures) (WINNER)
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Cynthia Erivo — Wicked (Universal Pictures)
Kerry Washington — The Six Triple Eight (Netflix) (WINNER)
Lashana Lynch — Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount Pictures)
Lupita Nyong’o — A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount Pictures)
Regina King — Shirley (Netflix)
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Cedric The Entertainer — The Neighborhood (CBS)
Damon Wayans — Poppa’s House (CBS) (WINNER)
David Alan Grier — St. Denis Medical (NBC)
Delroy Lindo — UnPrisoned (Hulu)
Mike Epps — The Upshaws (Netflix)
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Ayo Edebiri — The Bear (FX/Hulu)
Kerry Washington — UnPrisoned (Hulu)
Natasha Rothwell — How to Die Alone (Hulu)
Quinta Brunson — Abbott Elementary (ABC) (WINNER)
Tichina Arnold — The Neighborhood (CBS)
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Aldis Hodge — Cross (Amazon Prime Video)
Donald Glover — Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Amazon Prime Video)
Harold Perrineau — FROM (MGM+)
Jabari Banks — Bel-Air (Peacock)
Michael Rainey Jr. — Power Book II: Ghost (Starz) (WINNER)
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Angela Bassett — 9-1-1 (ABC)
Emayatzy Corinealdi — Reasonable Doubt (Hulu)
Queen Latifah — The Equalizer (CBS) (WINNER)
Shanola Hampton — Found (NBC)
Zoe Salda?a — Lioness (Paramount+)
Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album
“Alright” — Victoria Monét (RCA Records/Lovett Music)
“Alter Ego (ALTERnate Version)” — Doechii, JT (Capitol Records/Top Dawg Entertainment)
“Boy Bye” — Chl?e Bailey (Columbia Records/Parkwood Entertainment LLC)
“Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar (pgLang, under exclusive license to Interscope Records) (WINNER)
“Yeah Glo!” — GloRilla (Collective Music Group/Interscope Records)
Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album
Bob Marley: One Love (Soundtrack) (Tuff Gong/Island Records)
Genius: MLK/X (Songs from the Original Series) (Hollywood Records)
Reasonable Doubt (Season 2) (Original Soundtrack) (Hollywood Records)
The Book of Clarence (The Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Geneva Club under exclusive license to Roc Nation Records, LLC)
Wicked: The Soundtrack (Republic Records) (WINNER)
Outstanding Soul/R&B Song
“16 CARRIAGES” — Beyoncé (Columbia Records/Parkwood Entertainment LLC)
“Here We Go (Uh Oh)” — Coco Jones (Def Jam Recordings)
“I Found You” — PJ Morton (Morton Records/EMPIRE)
“Residuals” — Chris Brown (RCA Records/Chris Brown Entertainment) (WINNER)
“Saturn” — SZA (RCA Records/Top Dawg Entertainment)
This story was first published on Feb. 22 at 5:32 p.m.
A previous version of this story misstated the number of nominations The Six Triple Eight received.
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