“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and“Scandal”are among the top nominees for the 45th annual NAACP Image Awards, announced Thursday afternoon during the winter Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif. David Oyelowo, Joe Morton, Keke Palmer, Bresha Webb and Gina Torres were on hand to announce the nominations in the major categories. The NAACP Image Awards will kick off Saturday, Feb. 22 at 9 p.m. on TV One, with a red carpet show at 8 p.m. The Weinstein Company leads with 17 film nominations, followed by Fox Searchlight with seven. BET and CBS were the top networks in the television categories with 19 and 16 nominations, respectively. ABC followed with 15 and HBO with 13. In the music categories, RCA led with 10 boosted by Justin Timberlake’s multiple nominations, Atlantic followed with eight and Columbia with seven.
“This has been an incredible year from the artistic community, with phenomenal contributions across the board from the music, television, motion picture, and literature genres that have the power and impact to drive social change,” said Roslyn M. Brock, chairman of the NAACP. “The NAACP Image Awards provides an excellent venue to recognize those who make a difference through art and activism, and we are excited to honor and celebrate this caliber of talent.” “The Image Awards recognize the best that communities of color have to offer and is an exciting addition to our programming line-up — TV One is pleased to showcase all of these achievements on our network,”said Alfred Liggins, president and CEO of TV One. The NAACP Image Awards honors the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film, and honors those who promote social justice through creative endeavors. Winners will be voted upon by NAACP members. Winners of the non-televised categories will be announced Friday, Feb. 21. The NAACP Image Awards are presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the country’s oldest and largest civil rights organization with about 500,000 members.
For a full listing of nominees: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/naacp-image-awards-nominations-announced-669689
