"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" earned 12 NAACP Image Awards nominations on Thursday, while "The Woman King" and "Abbott Elementary" will enter next month's ceremony as other top nominees.
The "Black Panther" sequel — which found blockbuster success — led all film nominees. The Marvel film delved into the concept of Wakanda's grief in the wake of the death of T'Challa — a character played by Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020.
The film "The Woman King" starring Viola Davis and the ABC television series "Abbott Elementary" with Quinta Brunson each received nine nods. Both Davis and Brunson are nominated for entertainer of the year along with Mary J. Blige, Zendaya and Angela Bassett.
The awards honoring entertainers and writers of color will air live in Pasadena, California, on BET on Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. EST. The two-hour show will be held in front of an audience for the first time in three years.
"This year's nominees have conveyed a wide range of authentic stories and diverse experiences that have resonated with many in our community," said Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP. "We're proud to recognize their outstanding achievements and performances."
"Wakanda Forever" and "The Woman King" will compete for outstanding motion picture along with "A Jazzman's Blues," "Till" and "Emancipation."
ABC emerged with a leading 28 nominations with the help of "Abbott Elementary," "black-ish" and "The Wonder Years."
Netflix, the streaming giant, received 15 nominations. RCA Records/RCA Inspiration has 11 nods, while Penguin Random House and HarperCollins Publisher led with nine in the literary categories.
In music, Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar both came away with five nominations.
"We take pride in recognizing the trailblazing achievements and artistry of this year's esteemed nominees and celebrating the powerful legacy of the NAACP," said Connie Orlando, the EVP of specials, music programming & music strategy at BET. "We look forward to bringing the Image Awards back to Pasadena in front of a live audience and delivering unforgettable moments that epitomize the brilliance of the Black community."
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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