After years of putting in work, Jazmine Sullivan is getting her just due as an artist, and she’s using her new level of fame to address some issues.
During the 2022 BET Awards on Sunday night, the first award handed out was the Best Female R&B/Pop Artist. The winner was Sullivan, who has been stacking hardware ever since the release of her 2021 album Heaux Tales. Earlier this year, she won multiple awards at the NAACP Image Awards and Grammys.
Beating out Summer Walker, Ari Lennox, Chlöe, Doja Cat, H.E.R. and Mary J. Blige in the category, the BET award was presented by popstar and actress Janelle Monáe.
During her acceptance speech, the “Pick Up Your Feelings” made an emotional plea to men for their support after Roe v. Wade was officially overturned by the Supreme Court on Friday.
She said, “As always, I do this for the women. For my sisters especially. It’s a hard time right now for us. I want to speak directly to the men. We need you all. We need y’all to stand up. Stand up for us. Stand up with us.”
She continued, “If you have ever benefited from a woman making one of the toughest decisions of her life ― to terminate a pregnancy ― you need to be standing with us. This is not just a woman’s issue. This is everybody’s issue. We need your support more than ever, okay, fellas. Y’all got us? We’ve got y’all. You all have got us? Thank you so much.”
This was the first of many celebrities to address the Supreme Court’s decision. Taraji P. Henson, the host of Sunday’s award show, mentioned the ruling in her opening monologue and thanked Lizzo, who had the opening performance, for donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood.
Also during the award show, while remembering those who have died the last year during the in memoriam, the first thing shown on the screen was “Roe v. Wade,” which got mixed responses on social media.