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2025 BET Awards: Ayra Starr Wins Best International Act [FULL LIST]

By in Entertainment News, News

Nigerian singer Ayra Starr marked a career milestone at the 2025 BET Awards, taking home the Best International Act award, her first-ever win at the event on Monday night.

The 21-year-old Afrobeats star, who had led all African nominees with three nominations, was up for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, Best New Artist, and Best International Act. While Starr lost in the first two categories to SZA and Leon Thomas respectively, her win in the international category signalled growing global recognition for her sound and rise in the music industry.

Her victory was a standout moment on a night where other Nigerian nominees were left disappointed.

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Tems captivates audience at Aston Martin F1 Livery unveiling in London. Photo: @astonmartinf1/Instagram

Tems, another strong Nigerian contender, was nominated twice in the BET Her category for her tracks Burning and Hold On from her debut album Born In The Wild. The award was ultimately claimed by Summer Walker for her emotional single Heart of a Woman.

Shallipopi, known for his street-hop sound, was nominated for Best New International Act, while Rema was also in the running for Best International Act, but neither artist clinched the win.

The ceremony, held at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles and hosted by comedian Kevin Hart, was dominated by U.S. acts particularly hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar, who swept up five major awards.

Lamar won Album of the Year for GNX, Best Male Hip Hop Artist, Video of the Year for the viral Not Like Us, Best Collaboration with SZA on Luther, and Video Director of the Year, shared with longtime collaborator Dave Free.

WInner of Album of the Year with “GNX” US rapper songwriter Kendrick Lamar speaks on stage during the 2025 BET Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP)

Chris Brown was named Best Male R&B/Pop Artist, while The Best Group award went to Future and Metro Boomin for their joint album.

Rapper Doechii won Best Female Hip Hop Artist and used her acceptance speech to highlight ongoing protests outside the venue.

“As much as I’m honoured by this award, I do want to address what’s happening right now outside of the building,” she said. “There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order.”

She concluded to a standing ovation: “We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear… and we protest against it. Thank you, BET.”

And in one of the night’s most talked-about wins, the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Blue Ivy Carter received the YoungStars Award

On the film and television front, Cynthia Erivo won Best Actress, and Denzel Washington added another accolade to his long career as Best Actor. The musical biopic Luther: Never Too Much took home Best Movie.

Meanwhile, Angel Reese claimed the Sportswoman of the Year award, while NFL quarterback Jalen Hurts took home Sportsman of the Year honors for his standout season.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS – BET AWARDS 2025

Album of the Year

$ome $exy $ongs 4 U — Drake & Partynextdoor
11:11 Deluxe — Chris Brown
Alligator Bites Never Heal — Doechii
Cowboy Carter — Beyoncé
Glorious — GloRilla
WINNER: GNX — Kendrick Lamar
Hurry Up Tomorrow — The Weeknd
We Don’t Trust You — Future & Metro Boomin

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

Ari Lennox
Ayra Starr
Coco Jones
Kehlani
Muni Long
Summer Walker
WINNER: SZA
Victoria Monét

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

Bruno Mars
WINNER: Chris Brown
Drake
Fridayy
Leon Thomas
Teddy Swims
The Weeknd
Usher

Best Group

41
Common & Pete Rock
Drake & Partynextdoor
Flo
WINNER: Future & Metro Boomin
Jacquees & Dej Loaf
Larry June, 2 Chainz, The Alchemist
Maverick City Music

Best Collaboration

“30 For 30” — SZA feat. Kendrick Lamar
“Alter Ego” — Doechii feat. JT
“Are You Even Real” — Teddy Swims feat. Givēon
“Beckham” — Dee Billz feat. Kyle Richh, Kai Swervo, KJ Swervo
Bless — Lil Wayne, Wheezy & Young Thug
“Like That” — Future & Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar
WINNER: “Luther” — Kendrick Lamar & SZA
“Sticky” — Tyler, The Creator feat. GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne
“Timeless” — The Weeknd feat. Playboi Carti

Best Female Hip Hop Artist

Cardi B
WINNER: Doechii
Doja Cat
GloRilla
Latto
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Rapsody
Sexyy Red

Best Male Hip Hop Artist

BigXthaPlug
Bossman DLow
Burna Boy
Drake
Future
WINNER: Kendrick Lamar
Key Glock
Lil Wayne
Tyler, The Creator

Video of the Year

“3AM in Tokeyo” — Key Glock
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Shaboozey
“After Hours” — Kehlani
“Denial Is a River” — Doechii
“Family Matters” — Drake
WINNER: “Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar
“Timeless” — The Weeknd feat. Playboi Carti
“Type Shit” — Future, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott & Playboi Carti

Video Director of the Year

Anderson .Paak
B Pace Productions & Jacquees
Benny Boom
Cactus Jack
Cole Bennett
WINNER: Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Dave Meyers
Foggieraw
Tyler, The Creator

Best New Artist

41
Ayra Starr
BigXthaPlug
BossMan Dlow
Dee Billz
WINNER: Leon Thomas
October London
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award

“A God (There Is)” — Common & Pete Rock feat. Jennifer Hudson
“Amen” — Pastor Mike Jr.
“Better Days” — Fridayy
“Church Doors” — Yolanda Adams feat. Sir The Baptist & Donald Lawrence (Terry Hunter Remix)
“Constant” — Maverick City Music, Jordin Sparks, Chandler Moore & Anthony Gargiula
“Deserve to Win” — Tamela Mann
“Faith” — Rapsody
WINNER: “Rain Down on Me” — GloRilla feat. Kirk Franklin, Maverick City Music

Viewer’s Choice Award

WINNER: “Residuals” — Chris Brown
“Denial Is a River” — Doechii
“Nokia” — Drake
“Like That” — Future & Metro Boomin feat. Kendrick Lamar
“TGIF” — GloRilla
“Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar
“Luther” — Kendrick Lamar & SZA
“Brokey” — Latto

Best International Act

Any Gabrielly (Brazil)
WINNER: Ayra Starr (Nigeria)
Basky (UK)
Black Sherif (Ghana)
Ezra Collective (UK)
Joé Dwèt Filé (France)
MC Luanna (Brazil)
Rema (Nigeria)
SDM (France)
Tyla (South Africa)
Uncle Waffles (Swaziland)

Best New International Act

Abigail Chams (Tanzania)
Ajulicosta (Brazil)
Amabbi (Brazil)
Dlala Thukzin (South Africa)
Dr Yaro (France)
KWN (UK)
Maglera Doe Boy (South Africa)
Merveille (France)
Odeal (UK)
Shallipopi (Nigeria)
WINNER: TxC (South Africa)

BET Her

“Beautiful People” — Mary J. Blige
“Blackbiird” — Beyonce feat. Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts
“Bloom” — Doechii
“Burning” — Tems
“Defying Gravity” — Cynthia Erivo feat. Ariana Grande
WINNER: “Heart of a Woman” — Summer Walker
“Hold On” — Tems
“In My Bag” — Flo & GloRilla

Best Movie

Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
WINNER: Luther: Never Too Much
Mufasa: The Lion King
One of Them Days
Rebel Ridge
The Piano Lesson
The Six Triple Eight

Best Actor

Aaron Pierce
Aldis Hodge
Anthony Mackie
Colman Domingo
WINNER: Denzel Washington
Jamie Foxx
Joey Bada$$
Kevin Hart
Sterling K. Brown
Will Smith

Best Actress

Andra Day
Angela Bassett
Coco Jones
WINNER: Cynthia Erivo
Keke Palmer
Kerry Washington
Quinta Brunson
Viola Davis
Zendaya

Young Stars Award

Akira Akbar
WINNER: Blue Ivy Carter
Graceyn “Gracie” Hollingsworth
Heiress Harris
Melody Hurd
Thaddeus J. Mixson
Tyrik Johnson
VanVan

Sportswoman of the Year Award

A’ja Wilson
WINNER: Angel Reese
Claressa Shields
Coco Gauff
Dawn Staley
Flau’jae Johnson
Juju Watkins
Sha’Carri Richardson
Simone Biles

Sportsman of the Year

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,202

By in News, World News

Here’s where things stand on Tuesday, June 10:

Fighting

  • Russia launched large drone attacks on Kyiv and the southern port of Odesa on Tuesday morning, regional authorities said.
  • Timur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said that several districts of the capital were being attacked simultaneously, resulting in damage to buildings and fires.
  • Oleh Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region, said on Telegram that a “massive” drone attack struck an emergency medical building, a maternity ward and residential buildings. Kiper said that a 59-year-old man was killed and four others injured in the attack on residential buildings, but there were no casualties at the maternity ward.
  • Russian air defence systems destroyed 76 Ukrainian drones over a two-hour period on Monday, Russian media outlets reported.
  • Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces “continued to advance into the depths of the enemy’s defence” in Ukraine’s east-central region of Dnipropetrovsk and taken control of more territory.

Diplomacy

  • Russia and Ukraine on Monday carried out an exchange of prisoners of war aged under 25. The exchange followed talks between the sides earlier this month in Istanbul.

Transportation

  • Russia’s civil aviation authority said early on Tuesday that it had temporarily suspended flights at all four major airports serving Moscow in response to Ukrainian drone attacks.

Blake Lively speaks out on Justin Baldoni’s £294million defamation lawsuit dismissal

By in Entertainment News, News

Blake Lively initially launched a sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni – who has strongly refuted the claims – after the pair worked together on It Ends With Us

Blake Lively was snapped at the Tribeca Artists Dinner in New York City on Monday(Image: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Blake Lively has spoken out for the first time since she was cleared in the $400million (£294million) defamation and extortion lawsuit filed by her It Ends with Us collaborator Justin Baldoni.

The actress’ powerful statement comes just hours after a judge dismissed Justin’s case. Blake, 37, said on Instagram: “Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organisations united in defending women’s rights to speak up for their safety.

“Like so many others, I’ve felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us. While the suit against me was defeated, so many don’t have the resources to fight back.”

Blake initially launched a sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin – who has strongly refuted the claims. However, he hit back with the $400million defamation claim against her, her publicist and husband Ryan Reynolds, all of whom have dismissed the accusations.

READ MORE: Blake Lively blasted for being ‘rude to staff’ in New York shop – ‘so entitled’

Blake lLvely and Justin Baldoni in It Ends with us
The pair worked together on film It Ends With Us

But after the judge chucked out Justin’s claims, a source close to the Los Angeles-born actress said: “Today’s opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit.”

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The row happened after Blake and Justin, 41, starred together in It Ends With Us, a romcom released last year. The alleged sexual harassment occurred during production for that film, which Justin directed.

But now, speaking after the dismissal, Blake added she was “more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman’s right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story”.

The Gossip Girl actress, who has four children with Ryan Reynolds, “With love and gratitude for the many who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don’t. But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you.”

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Last month, Blake’s pal Taylor Swift was dragged into the scandal when she was officially subpoenaed to appear as a witness. The pop star was delivered a legal notice by Justin’s lawyer Bryan Freedman – a decision which had been slammed by her team as a tactic to create clickbait.

In a move that appeared to please Blake and Taylor, it was confirmed Justin would no longer be calling on the Bad Blood hitmaker to appear as a witness. Bryan Freedman had claimed Blake had called on “her high-profile friends” including Taylor to “manipulate Justin at every turn.”

ITV The Chase star Mark Labbett commits ultimate blunder during Celebs Go Dating

By in Entertainment News, News

Mark Labbett, best known to The Chase fans as quizmaster “The Beast”, was reportedly spotted committing the faux pas during a date with a mystery woman while filming Celebs Go Dating

“The Beast” from The Chase, real name Mark Labbett, found himself in an amusing pickle on Celebs Go Dating after reportedly dozing off during a date.

Labbett, 58, well-known for his sharp intellect and straight-talking on the hit ITV quiz show, seemingly succumbed to sleepiness while the cameras captured the moment mid-date.

The latest series of Celebs Go Dating, which was filmed last month, saw an insider reveal that there wasn’t much spark between the quizzing legend and his suitor.

An anonymous tipster dished:

“Mark was yawning a lot and drifted off briefly. It was a bit of an awkward moment. It’s safe to say there wasn’t much of a spark between them.”

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Previously weighing as much as 29 stone, Mark Labbett tied the knot with second cousin Katie in 2014 but called it quits after six years.

He then dated TV host Hayley Palmer in 2023; however, the couple split after just one year together, reports the Express.

A source said:
A source said: “Mark was yawning a lot and drifted off briefly. It was a bit of an awkward moment. It’s safe to say there wasn’t much of a spark between them.”(Image: IG)

Discussing his break up with Hayley, 43, Labbett confided in The Sun:

“She’s a lovely lady and I was very lucky to date her for a year, and as I said: it’s me, I got old.”

He continued: “There’s been no one since Hayley. I’m not saying there won’t be another one. But I’m certainly not looking.”

Delving into his love life, Labbett reminisced:

“I was single, not coincidentally, for a long, long time when I was a 29st maths teacher who knew it was quite hard to attract a partner then. So I’m quite comfortable without a partner.”

Mark’s representative quipped a witty retort when questioned about the drowsy date:

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“If his date was as boring as you have suggested, I’m surprised he didn’t take a pillow with him!”.

Chinese man in US pleads guilty to exporting guns, ammo to North Korea

By in News, World News

A Chinese man living illegally in the United States has pleaded guilty to exporting guns, ammunition and other military items to North Korea at the direction of Pyongyang, the US Department of Justice has said.

Shenghua Wen, of Ontario, California, admitted to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act – a 1977 law that empowers the president to restrict commerce with countries on national security grounds – and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, the Justice Department said on Monday.

Wen, 42, shipped at least three containers of guns bound for North Korea in 2023, one of which arrived in Nampo, North Korea, via Hong Kong, according to prosecutors.

To facilitate the scheme, Wen bought a firearms business in Houston, Texas, and used false paperwork to conceal the contents of his shipping containers, according to prosecutors.

Wen, who was arrested in December, also allegedly bought approximately 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition and obtained “sensitive technology”, including a chemical threat identification device, for shipment to North Korea.

Wen was allegedly directed to procure the weapons and sensitive goods by North Korean officials he met at the North Korean Embassy in China before entering the US on a student visa in 2012.

Wen was allegedly transferred about $2m to carry out the scheme.

“Wen admitted that at all relevant times he knew that it was illegal to ship firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology to North Korea. He also admitted to never having the required licenses to export ammunition, firearms, and the above-described devices to North Korea,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a press release.

“He further admitted to acting at the direction of North Korean government officials and that he had not provided notification to the Attorney General of the United States that he was acting in the United States at the direction and control of North Korea as required by law.”

During questioning by the FBI, Wen said he believed the North Korean government wanted the weapons and ammunition to prepare for an attack against South Korea, according to a criminal complaint filed in September.

Wen is due to face court for sentencing in August.

Osun Communities Protest Poor Road Conditions, Appeal For Govt’s Intervention

By in News, Nigeria News

Residents of 25 communities along the Olu-omo Junction-Kelebe area to the ATMAN area in Osogbo, Osun State, staged a protest on Monday to draw the government’s attention to the deplorable state of their access road.

The protesters, carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Osun Govt., Road project is our primary” and “Gov. Adeleke, our road is no longer motorable,” demanded government intervention to address the road’s poor condition.

The affected communities, including Araromi, Asejere Oke-odo, Aratumi, Akogun, Kuliya, and Alagbede, among others, have been facing numerous challenges due to the road’s deplorable condition.

According to the protesters, the bad road has caused significant damage to their vehicles, and commercial motorcycle riders now refuse to ply the route.

They said the road has multiple failed portions, with some areas threatened by erosion.

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Despite communal efforts to maintain the road through periodic grading, the protesters argue that the situation has become unsustainable and demand total construction.

They expressed disappointment that despite reaching out to the government and relevant agencies, their pleas have gone unanswered.

The communities appealed to Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration to prioritize their road project, noting that while the current administration has constructed several roads in the state, theirs has been neglected.

The protesters emphasized that the road has never been constructed by any government and urged the state government to yield to their demands.