THE BET AWARDS
GET POLITICAL

UPDATE: Across BET, BET HER and for the first time ever, CBS, the 2020 BET Awards amassed 3.7m viewers total, up 54% from last year. Sunday night's broadcast marks the event's largest audience since 2017.

The Black Lives Matter movement was omnipresent at the 20th annual edition of the BET Awards Sunday, staged virtually with prerecorded performances. Roddy Ricch, Lizzo, Chris Brown and DaBaby were among the winners.

The political angle was most prominent in two performances: DaBaby honored the memory of George Floyd and other murder victims in his performance of "Rockstar," while Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy revisited 1989’s "Fight the Power" with new lyrics from Nas, Black Thought, Rapsody and YG.

Beyoncé received a lifetime achievement award and encouraged viewers to vote.

"I want to dedicate this award to all of my brothers out there, all of my sisters out there inspiring me, marching and fighting for change," she said. "Your voices are being heard and you're proving to our ancestors that their struggles were not in vain. Now we have one more thing we need to do to walk in our true power, and that is to vote. There are people banking on us staying at home during local elections and primaries happening in states across the country. We have to vote like our life depends on it, because it does."

Among the standout performers were Chloe x Halle and Summer Walker, who was joined by Usher. Amanda Seales was the host of the event, which aired on CBS for the first time. BET will rebroadcast the event on Wednesday.