Art & Style

(PHOTOS) Wayne Brady, Tamron Hall, Karrueche Tran, Justine Skye, Mc Lyte and More Attend Star-Studded Ebony Power 100 Gala

Published on October 28, 2021

The achievements of Black Americans were recently celebrated at the star-studded 2021 Ebony Power 100 Gala in LA.

Held at the Beverly Hilton, this year’s Ebony Power 100 Gala marked the 75th anniversary of Ebony magazine, which relaunched earlier this year. This is the first Ebony Power 100 Gala since 2018.

Hosted by Wayne Brady, who was also honored with the Vanguard Award, the event bestowed “Special Awards” on a variety of accomplished Black Americans across the entertainment, sports, medicine, politics and a host of other fields.

Recipients of the special award included: Storm Reid (Rising Star Award); the National Institutes of Health’s Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett (Innovator of the Year); MC Lyte (Trailblazer Award); Deion Sanders (Game Changer of the Year); Red Table Talk creators Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris (Entertainer of the Year Award) and P&G Executives Marc Pritchard, Damon Jones and Stephanie Headley (Corporate Citizen Award).

Legendary songwriting and music production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were also honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“We were really intentional about honoring people this year that hadn’t been on the list prior,” said Ebony Editor-in-Chief Marielle Bobo. “It really meant a lot for us to celebrate the next generation, as well as those who’ve been doing it for a while.”

The Ebony Power 100 list was announced earlier this month with the theme “Bold. Brilliant. Black.” The list saluted honorees in such categories as music impact, entertainment powerhouses, next gen, ceiling breaker, excellence in journalism, social justice champions and community builders.

Guests at the gala were treated to performances from Major, Lucky Daye, Erica Campbell, Deon T. Jones and Justine Skye.

The event also featured closing remarks from Ebony Chairwoman Eden Bridgeman and CEO Michele Ghee, who announced plans to relaunch sister publication JET next year and the release of the brand’s NFT collection, Ebony X, in April.

Many celebrities and honorees attended and walked the red carpet at the gala, including Karrueche Tran, Lisa Raye McCoy, Kyla Pratt, Eric Benet, Laz Alonso, Questlove, Tia Mowry, Shantel Jackson, Holly Robinson Peete, Big Freddia and more.

See Human Nature photos from the 2021 Ebony Power 100 Gala below: