The nominees for the 2026 NAACP Image Awards have been announced, and Sinners is dominating alongside a top-tier TV series, Teyana Taylor and two raucous rappers.
The annual ceremony with a theme of “We See You” celebrates Black achievement across multiple spaces and will air during a two-hour LIVE TV special, airing Saturday, February 28, 2026, from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, at 8 PM ET/ 8 PM PT on BET and will simulcast on the CBS Television Network.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners leads all motion picture contenders with 18 nominations, followed by Highest 2 Lowest with nine.
Television standouts include Bel-Air with seven nominations, while Abbott Elementary, Reasonable Doubt, and Ruth & Boaz each earned six nods; Forever follows with five.
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Netflix topped all platforms with an industry-leading 47 nominations, while Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, Kendrick Lamar, Michael B. Jordan, and Teyana Taylor will compete for Entertainer of the Year.
Speaking of Teyana, Teyana is one of the most-nominated artists overall, collecting six nods, including Entertainer of the Year, recognition for her roles in One Battle After Another and Tyler Perry’s Straw, and her album Escape Room.
Similarly, Cynthia Erivo scored four nominations, including Entertainer of the Year and acting recognition for Wicked: For Good.
In music recording categories, Kendrick Lamar led the field with six nominations, while Cardi B and Leon Thomas earned four apiece; Doechii and Taylor followed closely with three each. RCA Records paced labels with eight nominations, while HarperCollins led literary publishers with eight, ahead of Penguin Random House’s six.
The NAACP is also debuting two new categories this year: Outstanding Literary Work – Journalism, honoring nationally distributed journalism centered on racial equity, social justice, or community impact, and Outstanding Editing in a Motion Picture or Television Series, Movie, or Special, recognizing excellence in post-production storytelling.
Nominations were announced live on CBS Mornings by Image Awards host Deon Cole and NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson, with additional reveals on YouTube/NAACPPlus by Gail Bean and Marcel Spears.
“The NAACP Image Awards is our declaration to our community that ‘We See You,’ affirming Black creativity, excellence and humanity across every space where our stories are told,” Johnson said. “From film, television and music to literature and beyond, the voices of all of our nominees tell stories that honor our past, celebrate our identity and remind us that storytelling has the power to move culture forward.”
BET president Louis Carr added,
“The NAACP Image Award nominations underscore what we’ve always known to be true—our people are the heartbeat of culture. Their creativity, excellence, and commitment to telling our stories with authenticity and purpose continue to set the standard.”
Public voting is now open in select categories at NAACPImageAwards.net through Feb. 7 at midnight ET. Winners will be announced during the Feb. 28 telecast, while non-televised categories will be honored at the Creative Honors on Thursday, Feb. 26, and virtually on YouTube/NAACPPlus from Feb. 23–25.
The full list of nominees can be found on the flip!
One of Them Days (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Madison Gate Records, TriStar Productions)
Sinners (Original Motion Picture Score) (Proximity Media LLC, under exclusive license to Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment)
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
Can’t Get Enough – Kennedy Ryan (Forever/Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group)
Chronicles of Ori: An African Epic – Harmonia Rosales (W. W. Norton & Company)
Death of the Author – Nnedi Okorafor (William Morrow)
Happy Land – Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Berkley, Penguin Random House)
Harlem Rhapsody – Victoria Christopher Murray (Berkley, Penguin Random House)
Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction
A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm & Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics – Juanita Tolliver (Legacy Lit/Hachette Book Group)
Born in Flames – Bench Ansfield (W. W. Norton & Company)
From These Roots – Tamara Lanier (Penguin Random House, Crown)
Hidden Hospitality: Untold Stories of Black Hotel, Motel, and Resort Owners from the Pioneer Days to the Civil Rights Era – Calvin Stovall Jr. (Brown Books Publishing Group)
I Am Nobody’s Slave – Lee Hawkins (HarperCollins Publishers)
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
Anela Malik – American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States (National Geographic Partners, LLC)
Charles B. Fancher – Red Clay (Blackstone Publishing)
Dr. Judith Joseph – High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy (Little, Brown Spark)
Lorna Lewis – A Sky Full of Love (Lake Union)
Zoe B. Wallbrook – History Lessons (Soho Crime)
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/ Autobiography
Toni at Random – Dana A. Williams (Amistad, HarperCollins)
Truly – Lionel Richie (HarperOne)
Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three – Dawn Staley (Black Privilege Publishing (Atria Books, Simon & Schuster))
Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States – Anela Malik (National Geographic Partners, LLC)
Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine – Dr. Jessica Harris (Penguin Random House/Clarkson Potter)
We the Pizza: Slangin’ Pies and Savin’ Lives – Muhammad Abdul-Hadi (Penguin Random House/Clarkson Potter)
Who Better Than You? – Will Packer (Penguin Random House)
Wine Pairing for the People – Cha McCoy (Harvest, an imprint of WilliamMorrow, HarperCollins)
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
Death of the First Idea – Rickey Laurentiis (Alfred A. Knopf)
Florida Water – Aja Monet (Haymarket Books)
The Grace of Black Mothers – Martheaus Perkins (Trio House Press)
The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems – Patricia Smith (Scribner)
We Look Better Alive – Ali Black (Burnside Review Press)
Outstanding Literary Work – Children
Black Boy, Rise – Brynne Barnes (Chronicle Books)
Black Diamond Kings: Heroes of Negro League Baseball – Charles R. Smith Jr. (Candlewick Press)
My Quiet Place – Monica Mikai (Chronicle Books )
The History of We – Nikkolas Smith (Penguin Young Readers)
Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark – Allen R. Wells; Illustrated by DeAndra Hodge (Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/Macmillan)
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi – Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Clarion Books)
The Scammer – Tiffany D. Jackson (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)
The Story of My Anger – Jasminne Mendez (Penguin Young Readers)
Through Our Teeth – Pamela N. Harris (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books)
Outstanding Literary Work – Graphic Novel
Creaky Acres: A Graphic Novel – Calista Bril (Penguin Young Readers)
Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls – Rob Edwards (Stranger Comics)
One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel – Rita William-Garcia (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books)
Parable of the Talents A Graphic Novel Adaptation – Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damien Duffy, Illustrated by John Jennings and David Brame (Abrams ComicArts)
They Choose Violence – Sheldon Allen (AWA Studios)
Outstanding Literary Work – Journalism
As Black New Yorkers Move Out, N.Y.C. Politics May Be Reshaped – Maya King (Newspaper)
Audra McDonald Took The Stage and Rewrote The Rules – Adam Davenport (Online)
Black joy and boots: How line dancing is fanning cultural connection – Lisa Respers France (News Service)
HBCUs Reel as Trump Cuts Black-Focused Grants: ‘This Is Our Existence’ – Jasper Smith (Online)
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture
A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest (A24)
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Tabitha Brown – Unexpected Christmas (3 Diamonds Films)
Tyriq Withers – HIM (Monkeypaw Productions)
Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Buddy Guy, Delroy Lindo, Peter Dreimanis, Lola Kirke, Li Jun Li, Saul Williams, Yao – “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Lil Rel Howery, Katt Williams – “One Of Them Days” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Coleman Domingo, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh – “Wicked: For Good” (Universal Pictures)
Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke – “A House of Dynamite” (Netflix)
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