The 2026 BET Awards went down Sunday, and it’s taken me until Tuesday to recover!
Imagine this: I walked the carpet at 1:30, went home to upload the myriad videos and interviews taken by our team from 2:30-4:30pm, freshened up, came back by 5pm, then fortuitously got seated in the 3rd row, mere steps away from Ms. Lauryn Hill (!!!).
Did I mention, I was posting all during the show, all night, the following day, and this morning?!? We still haven’t finished uploading all of our content, but All I can say is: GOD IS GREAT!
I don’t think anyone will ever know how hard I work. All you see are these photos. The pictures, dresses, and glam are just the icing on the Claire Cake. But I’m not complaining! If this is work, I might just have the best. job. ever. It is definitely the most fun work I could ever dream of.
As Lauryn Hill said in her speech, “I do this because I love y’all. I have always cared about the expression and representation of the dignity of our people.”
I loved that she used the word dignity. Dignity is the state or quality of being worthy of honor and respect. The inherent worth and value of every individual. Let’s bring back dignity. That may be my word of the year!
For the occasion, I wore a custom dress by Nigerian Designer Shadiat Alasooke. Because the theme was black tie, I felt like I needed to do a couture creation, and I honestly find the best black designer couture in Africa. Yuwa Sorrela coordinated this collaboration, and my creative director Alaiia came up with the idea.
I loved it–what did you think?
Here’s to many many more red carpets. Next stop? Haute Couture in Paris of course!
Love & Light,
PS A lot of people who look at red carpets from home have no idea how harrowing they can be! I learned from the MET to always make sure I wear a simple hairstyle and not do too much, from the NAACP awards, I learned to ALWAYS get glam done (at least my hair). For this and for all carpets, I learned to get something tailored or at least have a tailor look at it: an item looks infinitely better if the fit is on POINT! I did not fully try this dress on until the morning of the BET Awards and should have probably gotten it snatched a bit. Everything is a learning lesson and a journey, and I’m honored to take you guys along for the ride…! In my next book, there will be an addendum called “Rules for Red Carpet Dressing.” Stay tuned!
Images: Chastity Morgan/Getty
