ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards announce honorees

Entertainment

By Alyssa Wilson Published: March 30, 2021

ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards announce honorees

In this video grab captured on Sept. 20, 2020, courtesy of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and ABC Entertainment, Zendaya accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for "Euphoria" during the 72nd Emmy Awards broadcast. (The Television Academy and ABC Entertainment via AP)

The 14th ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards announced this year’s honorees and a date for the ceremony which will be virtual for the first time.

The event, previously hosted as an invite-only event, will be streamed on essence.com on April 22, 2021.

This year’s theme is “Mastering Our Stories,” and it will focus on the “resiliency of Black women in Hollywood through the years– including during the unprecedented pandemic,” ESSENCE said.

Since it launched in 2008, a total of 65 Black women have been honored.

This year’s honorees include Whoopi Goldberg, Cynthia Erivo, Zendaya, Michaela Coel, and Andra Day.

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The event will be hosted by 2015 honoree Laverne Cox.

“This year’s honorees and their individual projects have helped reframe and expand the narrative of Black women’s joy, pain, challenges and triumphs on screen that have allowed so many of us to see pieces of our own lives within,” said Cori Murray, the Deputy Editor and co-producer of ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood. “With the added layer of the pandemic, these master storytellers have kept us sane and more importantly, seen.”