ESSENCE celebrated it’s 16th annual Black Women in Hollywood Awards Luncheon in style at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
ESSENCE, which is the leading and only 100% Black-owned media, technology and commerce company dedicated to Black women and communities made sure to recognize the extraordinary achievements of the industry’s most inspiring Black women. Honorees this year included Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Dominque Thorne (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Gina Prince-Bytheweood (The Woman King), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary), and director of Freeform Tara Duncan. The event hosted by Boris Kodjoe included some of the top names in the industry such as Viola Davis, Yara Shahidi, Quinta Brunson, Daniel Kaluuya, Ryan Coogler, Niecy Nash-Betts, Lena Waithe, Larenz Tate, Beverly Johnson, Karrueche Tran, Teyana Taylor, Tia Mowry, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Vivica A. Fox, Storm Reid, Meagan Good, Marsai Martin, Yaya DaCosta and many more.
As one of Hollywood’s most highly coveted events during awards season, this luncheon makes a point to foster a sense of community, empowerment, and sisterhood. Often, we forget that our Hollywood icons are also still inspired by their peers no matter how successful they are. “Someone that continues to inspire me is Viola Davis. It’s really hard in this industry to make a film, for her to have made The Woman King and for it to be a successful film, it made 94 million dollars worldwide; that shows me that when we say the impossible can happen, the possible can happen so Viola Davis, let’s give her her flowers,” said comedian and host of The Real Loni Love. Many stars also mentioned remarkable talent such as Angela Bassett, Queen Latifah, Issa Rae, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Tasha Smith as Black women in entertainment that inspires them.
The ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards, sponsored by Coca-Cola™, Netflix’s “Queen Charlotte”, smartwater and Prime Video is available on ESSENCEStudios.com and ESSENCE.com.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 09: (L-R) Honoree Sheryl Lee Ralph accepts an award from Quinta Brunson onstage during the 2023 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for ESSENCE)