BET Award for Best Actress

BET Awards for Best Actress
BET Awards for Best Actress
	Cynthia Erivo is the most recent recipient
Country	United States
Presented by	BET Awards
First award	2001
Currently held by	Cynthia Erivo (2025)
Most wins	Taraji P. Henson (6)
Most nominations	Angela Bassett (14)
Website

Last updated August 30, 2025

The BET Award for Best Actress is awarded to actresses from both television and film. Some nominees have been nominated based on their performances in multiple bodies of work within the eligibility period. Taraji P. Henson holds the record for most wins in this category with six, while Angela Bassett holds the record for most nominations with fourteen.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

Year	Actress	Work	Ref
2001
	Sanaa Lathan	Love & Basketball	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Aaliyah	Romeo Must Die
	Angela Bassett	Boesman and Lena
	Regina King	Down to Earth
2002
	Halle Berry	Monster's Ball	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Aaliyah	Queen of the Damned
	Angela Bassett	The Rosa Parks Story and The Score
	Vivica A. Fox	Boat Trip
	Jada Pinkett Smith	Ali
2003
	Queen Latifah	Chicago	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Halle Berry	Die Another Day
	Sanaa Lathan	Brown Sugar
	Nicole Ari Parker	Brown Sugar
	Gabrielle Union	Cradle 2 the Grave
2004
	Halle Berry	X2	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Beyoncé	The Fighting Temptations
	Vivica A. Fox	Kill Bill Volume 1
	Sanaa Lathan	Out of Time
	Gabrielle Union	Bad Boys II
2005
	Regina King	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Halle Berry	Catwoman
	Kimberly Elise	The Manchurian Candidate
	Queen Latifah	Beauty Shop
	Gabrielle Union	Something The Lord Made
2006
	Taraji P. Henson	Hustle & Flow	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Tichina Arnold	Everybody Hates Chris
	Queen Latifah	Last Holiday
	Thandie Newton	Crash
	Alfre Woodard	Desperate Housewives
2007
	Jennifer Hudson	Dreamgirls	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Tichina Arnold	Everybody Hates Chris
	Angela Bassett	Akeelah and the Bee
	Kerry Washington	The Last King of Scotland
	Chandra Wilson	Grey's Anatomy
2008
	Halle Berry	Perfect Stranger	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Angela Bassett	Meet the Browns
	Queen Latifah	Hairspray
	Jill Scott	Why Did I Get Married?
	Chandra Wilson	Grey's Anatomy
2009
	Taraji P. Henson	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Beyoncé	Cadillac Records and Obsessed
	Angela Bassett	ER and Notorious
	Rosario Dawson	Eagle Eye and Seven Pounds
	Jennifer Hudson	The Secret Life of Bees

2010s

Year	Actress	Work	Ref
2010
	Mo'Nique	Precious	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Taraji P. Henson	Date Night
	Regina King	Southland
	Zoe Saldana	Avatar and Star Trek
	Gabourey Sidibe	Precious
2011
	Taraji P. Henson	Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Halle Berry	Frankie and Alice
	Regina King	Southland
	Zoe Saldana	Death at a Funeral
	Kerry Washington	For Colored Girls
2012
	Viola Davis	**Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Help**	^{[ citation needed ]}
	Angela Bassett	Jumping the Broom
	Taraji P. Henson	Person of Interest
	Regina King	Southland
	Zoe Saldana	Colombiana
2013
	Kerry Washington	**Django Unchained and Scandal**	^[1]
	Angela Bassett	Betty and Coretta and Olympus Has Fallen
	Halle Berry	The Call
	Taraji P. Henson	Person of Interest and Think Like a Man
	Gabrielle Union	Think Like a Man
2014
	Lupita Nyong'o	12 Years a Slave	^[2]
	Angela Bassett	American Horror Story: Coven
	Gabrielle Union	Being Mary Jane
	Kerry Washington	Scandal
	Oprah Winfrey	The Butler
2015
	Taraji P. Henson	Empire	^[3]
	Viola Davis	How to Get Away with Murder
	Tracee Ellis Ross	Black-ish
	Gabrielle Union	Being Mary Jane
	Kerry Washington	Scandal
2016
	Taraji P. Henson	Empire	^[4]
	Viola Davis	How to Get Away with Murder
	Tracee Ellis Ross	Black-ish
	Gabrielle Union	Being Mary Jane
	Kerry Washington	Scandal
2017
	Taraji P. Henson	**Hidden Figures and Empire**	^[5]
	Viola Davis	Fences
	Janelle Monáe	Hidden Figures
	Issa Rae	Insecure
	Gabrielle Union	Being Mary Jane
2018
	Tiffany Haddish	Girls Trip	^[6]
	Angela Bassett	Black Panther and 9-1-1
	Issa Rae	Insecure
	Taraji P. Henson	Empire
	Lupita Nyong'o	Black Panther and Star Wars: The Last Jedi
	Letitia Wright	Black Panther
2019
	Regina King	**If Beale Street Could Talk and Seven Seconds**	^[7]
	Issa Rae	Insecure and Little
	Regina Hall	The Hate U Give and Little
	Taraji P. Henson	Empire
	Tiffany Haddish	The Last O.G.
	Viola Davis	How to Get Away with Murder and Widows

2020s

Year	Actress	Work	Ref
2020
	Issa Rae	**Insecure , The Photograph & The Lovebirds**	^[8]
	Angela Bassett	9-1-1 and A Black Lady Sketch Show
	Cynthia Erivo	Harriet
	Regina King	Watchmen
	Tracee Ellis Ross	black-ish
	Zendaya	Euphoria and Spider-Man: Far From Home
2021
	Andra Day	The United States vs. Billie Holiday	^[9]
	Angela Bassett	9-1-1 and Soul
	Issa Rae	Insecure
	Jurnee Smollett	Birds of Prey and Lovecraft Country
	Viola Davis	How to Get Away with Murder and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
	Zendaya	Euphoria and Malcolm & Marie
2022
	Zendaya	Euphoria and Spider-Man: No Way Home	^[10]
	Aunjanue Ellis	King Richard
	Coco Jones	Bel-Air
	Issa Rae	Insecure
	Jennifer Hudson	Respect
	Mary J. Blige	Power Book II: Ghost
	Queen Latifah	The Equalizer
	Quinta Brunson	Abbott Elementary
	Regina King	The Harder They Fall
2023
	Angela Bassett	9-1-1 and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
	Coco Jones	Bel-Air
	Janelle James	Abbott Elementary
	Janelle Monáe	Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
	Keke Palmer	Human Resources and Nope
	Viola Davis	The Woman King
	Zendaya
2024
	Regina King	Shirley
	Angela Bassett	9-1-1 and Damsel
	Ayo Edebiri	The Bear , Bottoms , Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Theater Camp
	Coco Jones	Bel-Air
	Danielle Brooks	The Color Purple
	Fantasia	The Color Purple
	Halle Bailey	The Little Mermaid and The Color Purple
	Issa Rae	American Fiction , Barbie and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2025
	Cynthia Erivo	Wicked
	Andra Day	The Deliverance
	Angela Bassett	9-1-1 and Zero Day
	Coco Jones	Bel-Air
	Keke Palmer	One of Them Days
	Kerry Washington	The Six Triple Eight and Unprisoned
	Quinta Brunson	Abbott Elementary
	Viola Davis	G20
	Zendaya	Challengers and Dune: Part Two

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

6 wins

Taraji P. Henson

3 wins

Nominations

14 nominations

Angela Bassett

11 nominations

Taraji P. Henson

9 nominations

Regina King

8 nominations

7 nominations

5 nominations

4 nominations

Coco Jones

3 nominations

2 nominations

References

↑ Swift, Andy. "BET Awards Nominees 2013 – Full List Of Hip-Hop Nominations". Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
↑ Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. "BET Award 2014 Nominations Announced". nokiatheatrelalive.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
↑ "Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj Lead BET Awards Nominations". Rap-Up. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
↑ Konerman, Jennifer (May 20, 2016). "Drake Leads BET Awards with 9 Nominations". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
↑ "Beyoncé and Bruno Mars Top 2017 BET Awards Nominees Slate". Billboard. May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
↑ "DJ Khaled Leads 2018 BET Awards Nominations: See the Full List". Billboard. May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
↑ "Winners". BET . Archived from the original on December 6, 2019.
↑ "2020 BET Awards: Drake, Megan Thee Stallion & Roddy Ricch Lead Nominees, CBS Airing Show for First Time". Billboard .
↑ Clark, Anne Victoria (June 27, 2021). "Here Are Your 2021 BET Awards Winners". Vulture.com . Retrieved June 28, 2021.
↑ Melas, Chloe (June 27, 2022). "BET Awards 2022: See the complete list of winners". CNN . Retrieved June 27, 2022.

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[1] Swift, Andy. "BET Awards Nominees 2013 – Full List Of Hip-Hop Nominations". Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2015.

[2] Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. "BET Award 2014 Nominations Announced". nokiatheatrelalive.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2015.

[3] "Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj Lead BET Awards Nominations". Rap-Up. Retrieved May 18, 2015.

[4] Konerman, Jennifer (May 20, 2016). "Drake Leads BET Awards with 9 Nominations". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 16, 2017.

[5] "Beyoncé and Bruno Mars Top 2017 BET Awards Nominees Slate". Billboard. May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.

[6] "DJ Khaled Leads 2018 BET Awards Nominations: See the Full List". Billboard. May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.

[7] "Winners". BET . Archived from the original on December 6, 2019.

[8] "2020 BET Awards: Drake, Megan Thee Stallion & Roddy Ricch Lead Nominees, CBS Airing Show for First Time". Billboard .

[9] Clark, Anne Victoria (June 27, 2021). "Here Are Your 2021 BET Awards Winners". Vulture.com . Retrieved June 28, 2021.

[10] Melas, Chloe (June 27, 2022). "BET Awards 2022: See the complete list of winners". CNN . Retrieved June 27, 2022.

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v t e BET Awards
Music	Album of the Year Video of the Year Video Director of the Year Coca-Cola Viewer's Choice Award Best Collaboration Best Group Best Male Hip Hop Artist Best Female Hip Hop Artist Best Male R&B/Pop Artist Best Female R&B/Pop Artist Best New Artist Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award Best International Act Best New International Act
Movies	Best Movie Best Actor Best Actress
Athletes	Sportsman of the Year Sportswoman of the Year
Special awards	BET Her Award YoungStars Award Humanitarian Award Lifetime Achievement Award Ultimate Icon Award
Defunct awards	Best Actor & Actress of the Year Best Gospel Artist J Cool Like That Award J Award Best International Act: Africa Best International Act: UK FANdemonium Award International Viewers' Choice Award Best International Act: Europe
Award ceremonies	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025