Arts & Entertainment
Janet Jackson stands up for women’s equality at Billboard Music Awards
The pop star became the first female black artist to receive the honor
Janet Jackson accepting the Icon Award at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards (Screenshot via Twitter)
Janet Jackson accepted the Icon Award at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night making her the first black woman to receive the honor.
Bruno Mars introduced Jackson who performed a medley of “Nasty,” “If” and “Throb” for her first televised performance in nine years. Afterward, Mars presented Jackson with the Icon Award and the pop star took the stage to screams of “Janet” from the crowd. Her family members, including her mother Katherine and nephew Prince Michael, were also seated in the audience.
“I’m deeply humbled and grateful for this award. I believe that for all of our challenges, we live at a glorious moment in history,” Jackson began. “It’s a moment when at long last women have made it clear that we will no longer be controlled, manipulated, or abused.”
Jackson went on to say she hopes faith in God can ease the issues of the world.
“Our public discourse is loud and harsh. My prayer is that weary of such noise, we will turn back to the source of all calmness, that source is God. Everything we lack, God has in abundance: compassion, sensitivity, patience and boundless love. Again I want to thank all of you for this honor and I thank God for giving me the precious energy that lets me live my life as an artist who every day seeks to expand my capacity to love,” Jackson said.
After rocking the stage with her incredible performance, @JanetJackson accepts the 2018 #BBMAs Icon Award! #ICON_JANET pic.twitter.com/S7nDbrGJQI
— Billboard Music Awards (@BBMAs) May 21, 2018
Jackson is currently on her State of the World Tour which wraps in August.
Baltimore
This John Waters interview has been edited for readability — but perhaps not human decency
Pope of Trash dishes on Trump, plane etiquette, last meal, and more
By WESLEY CASE | At 80 years old, John Waters is still the ideal dinner guest — incisively sharp, quick-witted and funny as hell.
The chic Baltimore native proved it again and again in a recent Zoom interview, calling from his summer home in Provincetown, Mass.
The occasion was the Blu-ray releases of two of his movies — the 1977 dark comedy “Desperate Living” and his enduring 1988 musical “Hairspray” — on June 23 by the Criterion Collection, which publishes restorations of films it deems culturally important. The Criterion stamp of approval has become the gold standard among cinephiles.
“It’s like getting an award,” said Waters, who wrote and directed both films.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
The Washington Blade held the seventh annual Pride on the Pier at The Wharf DC on Saturday, June 13.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
The 2026 Lost River Pride Festival was held on the scenic grounds of the Lost River Farmers Market in Lost City, W.Va. on Saturday, June 13. Headliner Tom Goss performed at the festival and gave a second performance at the nearby Guesthouse Lost River.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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