You didn’t have to be an awards savant to have a pretty good idea who some of the winners would be at the 2026 BET Awards, which were presented at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday (June 28). Sinners star Michael B. Jordan, who won an Oscar for best actor on March 15, also won in that category here. Really, how could he lose? Teyana Taylor, who was Oscar-nominated for best supporting actress for One Battle After Another, won best actress here.
Olivia Dean, who won best new artist at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 1, also won in that category here. She’s the fifth artist to take the best new artist prize at both shows, following Alicia Keys, John Legend, Sam Smith and Chance the Rapper.
Kendrick Lamar, who won five Grammys earlier this year, won two awards here, including best male hip-hop artist for a record ninth time. Lamar has won in that category more often than the next two most frequent winners combined. (That’s Drake with four awards and Ye, the former Kanye West, with three.)
It was also not a surprise that Sinners won best movie, beating One Battle After Another. Sinners received a record 16 Oscar nominations, though it lost the top Oscar, best picture, to One Battle After Another. How to explain the reversal of fortune? Sinners had a Black writer/director, Ryan Coogler, and a mostly Black cast.
That doesn’t mean everything at the BET Awards followed conventional wisdom. Here are the biggest snubs and surprises at the 2026 BET Awards.
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Surprise: Kehlani’s “Folded” video
Kehlani’s “Folded” won video of the year, beating, among others, Doechii’s “Anxiety,” which won a Grammy for best music video on Feb. 1, and Teyana Taylor’s “Escape Room (Short Film).” Taylor won a separate award here for video director of the year.
Kehlani’s soulful ballad won two Grammys earlier this year — best R&B song and best R&B performance.
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Snubs: Doja Cat and Latto
Doja Cat and Latto both went 0-4, making them the night’s biggest shut-outs.
Nine artists tied as the night’s second-biggest shut-outs, going 0-3 on the night: A$AP Rocky, Bruno Mars, Bryson Tiller, Chris Brown, Jill Scott, Metro Boomin, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Tems and YK Niece.
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Surprise: Mariah the Scientist
“Burning Blue” won the viewers’ choice award, prevailing over tracks by several acts who won in other categories: “Chains & Whips” by Clipse feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Folded” by Kehlani; “Man I Need” by Olivia Dean; and “Outside” by Cardi B.
Making it even more of a surprise: This was Mariah the Scientist’s only victory from her five nominations.
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Disappointment: Cardi B
Cardi B’s long-awaited second studio album, AM I THE DRAMA?, lost album of the year to Clipse’s Let God Sort ’Em Out. This won’t help Cardi in her longshot bid to land a Grammy nod for album of the year. Cardi’s debut album, Invasion of Privacy, won the BET Award en route to a Grammy nod for album of the year.
Cardi, who was the year’s most-nominated artist with six nods, didn’t go home empty-handed. She won best female hip-hop artist.
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Disappointment: RAYE
RAYE made history at the BRIT Awards in 2024, becoming the first artist to win six awards in one night. But she hasn’t (yet) won as many awards in the U.S. as her talent would indicate. She lost best new artist at the Grammys in 2025 to Chappell Roan. At tonight’s BETs, she lost best new artist to Olivia Dean. (At least she’s losing to other talented artists.)
Don’t get the idea that RAYE should start to sing “Where Is My Award!” She’s likely to do very well in the upcoming Grammy nominations.
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Minor Upset: Leon Thomas
Thomas won best male R&B/pop artist for the first time. His win was hardly a big surprise – his 2025 smash “Mutt” is an old-school R&B ballad with broad appeal – but three of the artists he beat in this category – Bruno Mars, Chris Brown and Bryson Tiller, had more overall nominations (three) than Thomas did (two).
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