BEVERLY JOHNSON, BORIS KODJOE, CASANDRA DIGGS,
DAPPER DAN, EVA MARCILLE, JULEE WILSON,
MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, MISA HILTON, SELITA EBANKS,
TY HUNTER, TYSON BECKFORD, AND MORE JOIN
BET ORIGINAL FILM “BLACK + ICONIC: STYLE GODS”
-----

NARRATED BILLY PORTER “STYLE GODS” WILL PREMIERE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18 AT 8 PM ET/PT
ON BET, BET+, BET HER, AND VH1

FIND AND SHARE A “STYLE GODS” FIRST LOOK PROMO HERE

NEW YORK, NY – February 13, 2023 – Today, BET revealed its fashion-forward line-up for original film “Black + Iconic: Style Gods,” narrated by Emmy®, Tony®, and Grammy® Award-winning and Golden Globe®-nominated actor, singer, director, producer, and activist Billy Porter. From Emmy Award©-winning Executive Producer Stanley Nelson and Firelight Films, “Style Gods" celebrates Black cultural icons, pioneers, and activists and their impact, influence, and legacies in fashion. Weaving dazzling archival footage and original interviews with legendary Black models, fashion designers, and style icons, “Black + Iconic: Style Gods” explores the myriad of ways Black people have overcome racism to ultimately blaze an undeniable trail from the streets through the most exclusive runways of high fashion. “Black + Iconic: Style Gods” premieres on Saturday, February 18 at 8 PM ET/PT on BET, BET Her, BET+, and VH1.

The complete list of “Black + Iconic: Style Gods” talent includes:

• Audrey Smaltz - Former Ebony Fashion Fair Show Manager
• Aurora James - Designer
• Beverly Johnson - Model
• Boris Kodjoe - Actor
• Broderick Hunter - Model
• Carlos Nazario - Stylist
• CaSandra Diggs - President of the CFDA
• Dana Scruggs - Photographer
• Dapper Dan - Designer
• Dean Yvonne Watson - Interim Dean of Parsons School of Design
• Dess Dior - Musical Artist / BET+ Original Series “The Impact”
• Dr. Elka Stevens - Howard University Associate Professor Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts
• Eva Marcille - Actor and Model
• Harriette Cole - Subject matter expert
• Helena Andrews Dyer - Culture Reporter The Washington Post
• Julee Wilson - Beauty Editor Cosmopolitan
• Linda Johnson Rice - Former CEO of Ebony Publishing
• Michaela Angela Davis - Fashion & Pop Culture Expert/Writer
• Misa Hylton - Stylist
• Musa Jackson - Model
• Myles Loftin - Photographer
• Selita Ebanks - Model
• Sheila Rashid - Designer
• Ty Hunter - Stylist
• Zerina Akers - Stylist

Directed by Lynne Robinson, the inaugural film in the series, "Black + Iconic" celebrates Black cultural icons, pioneers, and activists and their impact, influence and legacies in fashion, music, film, and dance. Billy Porter to also serve as host, and Executive Producer of the groundbreaking film.

BET original franchise "Black + Iconic" is a new four-part, eight-hour documentary film series examining the momentous achievements of Black people across various fields while celebrating the power of Black cultural innovators. Executive producers Connie Orlando and Jason Samuels developed “Black + Iconic” for BET, along with senior supervising producer Steven Ramey.

About BET

BET, a unit of Paramount (NASDAQ: PARAA; PARA; PARAP), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African American audience. The primary BET channel is in 125 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, sub-Saharan Africa and France. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions including BET+, the preeminent streaming service for the Black audience; BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET HER, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American Woman; BET Music Networks – BET Jams, BET Soul and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, a growing BET festival business; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET around the globe.

About Firelight Films

Founded by award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Firelight Films produces documentaries by and about communities of color. Firelight Films productions have garnered multiple Primetime Emmy, Peabody, IDA, and Sundance awards. Among them are the feature films “Becoming Frederick Douglass” and “Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom”; “Attica,” which was nominated for an Academy Award; “Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre”; “Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy”; “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool”; “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”; “The Murder of Emmett Till”; and “The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords.” Firelight Films has also produced notable short films including, “The Story of Access,” which was commissioned by Starbucks in 2017 for a mandatory anti-bias employee training program, and “Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom,” commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture for its opening night in 2015. Upcoming Firelight Films productions include “Sound of the Police” for ABC News Studios and “Creating the New World: The Transatlantic Slave Trade,” a four-part documentary series for PBS.

# # #

Press Contacts:

BET

Luis Defrank

Luis.Defrank@bet.net

Justin Brown

Justin.brown@bet.net

Johnny Cooper

Johnny.cooper@bet.net

Firelight Films/DKC

Jordan Lawrence

Jordan_Lawrence@dkcnews.com

Patricia Marte

Patricia@firelightmedia.org