Janet Jackson surprises Teyana Taylor with BET Icon of the Year Award at 2026 BET Awards

The 2026 BET Awards on June 29 included a surprise moment involving Janet Jackson and Teyana Taylor, with Jackson presenting Taylor the BET Icon of the Year Award, CBS News reported. The coverage said Taylor was caught off guard when Jackson brought her on for the recognition during the live broadcast.

CBS News, in a segment hosted by Nate Burleson, described the presentation as one of the night’s standout incidents, framing it as a high-profile acknowledgement from one major music figure to another. The exchange highlighted Jackson’s role in honoring Taylor at an event centered on Black entertainment across music and related industries.

Beyond the award presentation, the BET Awards program included multiple performances and featured tributes, according to the CBS News reporting. The segment referenced a tribute to Lauryn Hill among the broader slate of staged moments, alongside additional star-studded appearances that contributed to the awards show’s overall entertainment focus.

The CBS News report did not provide detailed breakdowns of the full roster of presenters, performers, or the exact order of segments in the broadcast. As a result, specific names beyond Jackson, Taylor, and Lauryn Hill are not included here, though the report indicates the event had a broader lineup of celebrated artists and collaborative stage sets.

The Icon of the Year honor, as characterized in the CBS News segment, served as a marquee highlight for the night, reflecting a tradition of BET recognizing established influence within popular culture. In Taylor’s case, the presentation marked a public acknowledgement delivered in person by Jackson, rather than a routine on-stage announcement.

Following the broadcast, the practical impact of the moment centers on visibility and catalog momentum for both artists, as major award-show placements typically drive audience attention toward an honoree’s recent and past work. The CBS News coverage also indicates that the program’s wider tributes, including the Lauryn Hill segment, were positioned as a shared cultural reference point for viewers tuning in for performances as well as awards.

With the show now aired, the next steps for audiences and industry participants are largely routine: post-broadcast clips and coverage of the award and performances typically circulate across media platforms, and the honoree’s recognition becomes part of the event’s documented awards history. Additional details about the full winners list and performance lineup would come from the BET Awards’ official wrap-up materials.