MICHAEL B JORDAN & MORE WINS BIG AT NAACP AWARDS

It was a total knockout for Michael B. Jordan at the NAACP Image Awards in a ceremony that took several jabs at Hollywood for the lack of racial diversity.

The star of the boxing drama Creed was honored Friday as both the entertainer of the year and outstanding actor in a motion picture for his role as Apollo Creed's son.
"I used to sneak into the Image Awards, and now I'm standing here as the entertainer of the year, which is mind-blowing," he said.


Straight Outta Compton, which tells the story of the pioneering rap group N.W.A., picked up the outstanding motion picture prize at the awards, which are given out by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor people of color in entertainment.
"I want to thank the NAACP for this because without you riding for us for the last 100 years, we would not be standing here," director F. Gary Gray said.
Image Awards host Anthony Anderson kicked off the ceremony by invoking N.W.A. for a rap about the lack of racial diversity at other awards shows.


The Black-ish star donned a gold chain and a baseball cap with the words "Nominees With Attitude" to sing about such snubs as Beasts of No Nation and Jordan at the Academy Awards.
"Listen, y'all, I don't mean to sound cocky, but the movie's called Creed, not Rocky," he rapped.

When he walked on stage to present Creed as an outstanding motion picture contender, Sylvester Stallone was surprised to be greeted warmly by the audience.
"I certainly didn't expect that," said the Rocky star, who failed to recognize Jordan and Creed filmmaker Ryan Coogler in his acceptance speech at last month's Golden Globes. He later returned to the stage to thank them and apologized on Twitter.
Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee were among this year's Image Awards attendees who said they won't attend this year's Oscar ceremony after a second year of mostly white nominees.

  
Black-ish swept the TV comedy categories with Anderson winning the award for outstanding actor, while the show was selected as outstanding comedy series and his co-star Tracee Ellis Ross was honored as outstanding actress.
On the TV drama side, Empire dominated with wins for outstanding drama series, actor and actress for Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.
"We don't need to ask for acceptance from anyone," Henson said. "We are enough."