Kanye West turned out to be the best BET of all. The rapper-producer was a double winner at Tuesday night’s Fifth Annual Black Entertainment Television Awards, picking up prizes for Male Hip-Hop Artist and Video of the Year for his tune “Jesus Walks.” Too bad he was a no-show. He wasn’t the only one. Usher, who won Male R&B Artist, was MIA, as were actors Jamie Foxx and Regina King, who snagged Best Actor and Actress respectively for their performances in Ray; Shaquille O’Neal and Serena Williams, who grabbed Best Male and Female Athletes; and Denzel Washington and wife Pauletta, who were honored with the BET Humanitarian Award. For those who did make the three-and-a-half hour ceremony at Hollywood’s Kodak Theater, there were plenty of yuks. Hosts Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith arrived onstage in a horse-drawn carriage and kept things going with genial banter. And while Foxx didn’t make it there in person, the Oscar winner took time out in his videotaped acceptance speech to poke fun at his Collateral costar and presenter Tom Cruise for his exuberant appearance on Oprah Winfrey last month. “I’m jumping up and down on the couch right now in my living room,” Foxx quipped.
