As the NAACP Image Awards presentation gears up for a live broadcast tonight, its red carpet, audience and winners list look to be the most diverse of the awards-show season.
Producers of the show, to be hosted by Anthony Anderson, announced Monday that those scheduled to attend include Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Gina Rodriguez, Ken Jeong and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Other scheduled attendees include Kerry Washington, Gabrielle Union, Keegan-Michael Key, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Abraham Attah.
One notable name on the attendee list is Will Smith, who, along with wife Jada Pinkett Smith, is at the center of the OscarsSoWhite controversy. Following the revelation that no actors of color were among the 20 acting nominees for the Academy Awards — snubbing several performers who’d been considered contenders, including Smith (star of “Concussion”), Idris Elba (“Beasts of No Nation”) and Michael B. Jordan (“Creed”) — the couple announced that they would not attend the Oscars ceremony at the end of the month in protest.