LOS ANGELES – 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.
“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 “blackish” 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.
Anderson later joked during his opening monologue that he didn’t want the Academy Awards to go overboard in response to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy by honoring a movie like “Madea Goes Trick or Treating in Compton” as best picture or handing out Kevin Harts instead of Oscars.
“Hollywood needs to know that this is what diversity is supposed to look like,” a more serious Anderson told the crowd at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
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.
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