Taraji P. Henson, Samuel L. Jackson, Keke Palmer Among First Round of 56th NAACP Image Awards Winners

The NAACP kicked off night one of the 56th NAACP Image Awards Pre-Awards Show last night, announcing the first round of winners in the non-televised award categories. The two-night virtual event aired exclusively on the NAACP Image Awards YouTube channel–inviting NAACP Image Awards fans to experience two nights of culture, comedy, and celebrating Black achievement and excellence. 

Last night’s winners included Ayo Edebiri for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative for Television; Cree Summer for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance; Gracie’s Corner for Outstanding Animated Series; Keke Palmer for Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special); Marlon Wayans for Outstanding Guest Performance for Bel-Air; Netflix’s Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was for Outstanding Variety (Series or Special); Samuel L. Jackson for Outstanding Actor in a Limited Television (Series, Special, Movie) ; and Taraji P. Henson for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Television (Series, Special, Movie), both for Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.

The “6th NAACP Image Awards is supported by the following sponsors: Wells Fargo (Image Awards Week Presenting Sponsor); Google; P&G; Airbnb; Bank of America; Diageo; Sanofi; Amazon; Coca-Cola; and FedEx. Our partners include: L’Oréal; Onyx Impact; Entergy; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; American Airlines; Intuit; Edelman; Uncle Nearest; Hyatt; and Variety Magazine.

The 56th NAACP Image Awards will premiere LIVE on Saturday, February 22nd at 8:00 PM ET/PT on BET and CBS. 

The full list of winners from last night can be found below: 

Outstanding Children’s Program

“Gracie’s Corner” – YouTube TV

Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited Series)

Leah Sava Jeffries – “Percy Jackson and the Olympics”  (Disney+)

Outstanding Animated Series

“Gracie’s Corner” – YouTube TV

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television)

Cree Summer – “Rugrats” (Nickelodeon)

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction

“One of Us Knows: A Thriller” – Alyssa Cole (William Morrow – HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction

“Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest” – Fawn Weaver (Melcher Media Inc.)

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author

Sarai Johnson – “Grown Women”  (Harper – HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work –  Biography/Autobiography

“Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” – Joy-Ann Reid (Mariner Books – HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional

“Wash Day: Passing on the Legacy, Rituals, and Love of Natural Hair” – Tomesha Faxio (Clarkson Potter – Crown Publishing Group)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry

“This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets” – Kwame Alexander (Little, Brown and Company – Hachette Book Group)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children

“You Can Be a Good Friend (No Matter What!): A Lil TJ Book” – Taraji P. Henson, Paul Kellam (Zonderkidz – HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work –  Youth/Teens

“Brushed Between Cultures: A YA Coming of Age Novel Set in Brooklyn, New York” – Samarra St. Hilaire (Self-Published)

Outstanding Literary Work –  Graphic Novel

“Punk Rock Karaoke” – Bianca Xunise

Outstanding Variety (Series or Special)

“Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was” (Netflix)

Outstanding Guest Performance

Marlon Wayans – “Bel-Air” (Peacock)

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

Crystal Jenkins – “No Good Deed – Letters of Intent” Netflix)

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

Ben Watkins – Cross “Hero Complex” (Prime Video)

Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special

Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Thembi L. Banks – “Young. Wild. Free.” (BET+)

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television)

Ayo Edebiri – “The Bear” (FX/Hulu)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Television (Series, Special, Movie)

Taraji P. Henson – “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” (Peacock)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Television (Series, Special, Movie)

Samuel L. Jackson – “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” (Peacock)

Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special

Tina Mabry – “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat” (Hulu)

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

Tiffany Johnson – “How to Die Alone – ‘Trust No One’” (Hulu)

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series

Rapman – “Supacell – ‘Supacell’” (Netflix)

Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special)

“The Reidout” – MSNBC

Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble

Keke Palmer – “Password” (NBC)

Outstanding Reality Program, Reality Competition Services/Game Show 

“Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC)

Outstanding ShortForm Series or Special – Reality/Nonfiction/Documentary

“The Prince of Death Row Records” (YouTube TV)

Outstanding Short Form Documentary (Film)

“How to Sue the Klan”

Outstanding Short Form (Live Action)

“Superman Doesn’t Steal” 

Outstanding Short Form (Animated)

“Peanut Headz: Black History Toonz “Jackie Robinson” (Exhibit Treal Studios)

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• Trailer Watch: ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines,’ ‘Drop,’ ‘Ballerina,’ ‘A Nice Indian Boy,’ ‘G20’ - March 28, 2025
• Interviews: Nathan Lane and Matt Bomer On Their New Gay Comedy Series ‘Mid-Century Modern’ [VIDEO] - March 28, 2025
• 2026 Palm Springs International Film Awards and Festival Dates Announced - March 28, 2025