The stars shone at the BET Honors, which were held Saturday night at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC, and will air on the network March 14 at 8p. Honorees this year are Lee Daniels, Mellody Hobson, Eric H. Holder, Jr., Patti Labelle and L.A. Reid. Cynopsis caught up with BET chair/CEO Debra Lee on the red carpet, who said this year’s Oscars diversity controversy “makes me prouder of what we do, because we celebrate our own. We don’t wait for other organizations to celebrate us, we celebrate ourselves.”
Honoree Daniels, who among other credits is co-creator and exec producer of Empire, told Cynposis he isn’t aboard the bandwagon bashing Hollywood for lack of diversity. “There’s been a lot of talk of lack of diversity in Hollywood. I’m trying to understand it myself,” he said. “I just don’t blame Hollywood. For me, I get my own money, I get my own actors, I make my own material and I do my own thing.”
