Last month, ESSENCE announced the honorees for the 17th annual Black Women in Hollywood Awards, which is set to air exclusively on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network on Friday, March 15 at 9pm ET/PT. Now, let’s take a deeper look at this year’s recipients, and their remarkable achievements in the film and television industry.
The 2024 Black Women in Hollywood Award honorees and entertainment industry trailblazers include Academy Award-nominated actress & Grammy Award-winner, Danielle Brooks, six-time Grammy-nominated singer and leading actress Halle Bailey, acclaimed screenwriter and showrunner of All American, All American: Homecoming and Found, Nkechi Okoro Carroll, and industry powerhouse & President of Original Programming for STARZ, Kathryn Busby.
Hosted by Cliff “Method Man” Smith, the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards highlights the women who are making their unquestionable mark in film and television. The celebration continues Friday, March 8, at the fifth annual ESSENCE Hollywood House, an event that serves as a resource for emerging and established creatives, in order to assist them in reaching the next level in their respective careers.
Here’s the honorees for the 2024 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards.
This Juillard-educated actress rose to prominence in 2013 for her role as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson on the critically-acclaimed series Orange Is the New Black. In the years that followed, she made her Broadway debut in the musical revival of The Color Purple as Sofia, for which she received a Tony Award nomination and won the Grammy Award. Last year, Brooks reprised her role as the headstrong Black woman in Blitz Bazawule’s film adaptation of the aforementioned musical, earning nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award. Brooks will appear next in the upcoming adventure film Minecraft, which is set for release in 2025.
For four seasons, the multitalented entertainer shined as Skyler “Sky” Forster in the hit series Grown-ish. Musically, Bailey received several Grammy nominations for her efforts as one half of the duo Chloe x Halle, along with a nod as a solo artist for the beautiful ballad “Angel.” She also can be seen as the titular character in the live action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and also portrayed a young Nettie Harris in 2023’s The Color Purple. With a career spanning over a decade and more opportunities on the horizon, the sky’s the limit for this 23-year-old actress, singer, and songwriter.
This Harvard graduate’s entertainment journey reaches far and wide, as she worked for several years as an executive at LaFace, Paisley Park, and MCA Records in London. Busby became the director of comedy development at Universal Television in 1996, followed by a six-year stint as the senior vice president and head of development at Carsey-Werner. Throughout her career, she’s had a hand in shows such as Whoopi, The Tracy Morgan Show, and The Aisha Tyler Show. As the former senior vice president of production at New Line Cinema, she executive produced the 2008 film Sex and the City, and served as senior executive on Rush Hour 3. Now, Busby excels as the President of Original Programming at Starz, a position she’s held since 2021.
Carroll is a writer, producer, and actor, and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. After receiving her Masters from NYU in 2002, she wrote and produced shows such as A Breath of Fresh Air with Jon and Nkechi, Bones, Rosewood, and The Resident. In 2018, she went on to executive produce the popular CW series All American, as well as its spinoff show, All American Homecoming. Her most recent endeavor, Found, premiered on NBC last October, and was met with rave reviews.
