Robin Thede, L.A. Reid to be honored by Culture Creators’ annual Innovators & Leaders Awards
EXCLUSIVE: Thede will receive the Innovator of the Year Award and Reid will receive the Icon Award.
Robin Thede and Antonio “L.A.” Reid will be honored at Culture Creators’ sixth annual Innovators & Leaders Awards Brunch. The event is in partnership with Netflix and Strong Black Lead.
Celebrating Black culture at the highest level, the Annual Innovators & Leaders Awards Brunch will be on June 23 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. It will be hosted by five-time Grammy-nominee Tank and Bel-Air star Coco Jones.
Thede is being honored with the Innovator of the Year Award. The comedian/actress has gained popularity for creating HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show. The series, known for its high-profile celebrity guest appearances, has received eight Emmy Award nominations, winning last year for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Variety Show.
Reid is set to receive the Icon Award for his decades’ worth of work in music and entertainment. He and partner Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds co-wrote and co-produced a string of hits in the 1980s and 1990s, like Bobby Brown’s “Don’t Be Cruel” and The Whispers’ “Rock Steady.”
In 1989, Reid and Edmonds formed LaFace Records, overseeing the careers of Usher, TLC, Toni Braxton, and Outkast. Reid then transitioned into being a successful record executive for Arista, Island Def Jam, and Epic Records.
In addition to Thede and Reid, Roc Nation co-president Shari Bryant for Music; Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings of Earn Your Leisure are being honored for Business & Finance, and actor and activist Kendrick Sampson is being honored for Social Impact.
Brandice Daniel, CEO of Harlem’s Fashion Row, is being honored for Fashion. Photographer and content creator Flo Ngala is being honored for Visual Arts. Nicole Lynn of Klutch Sports Group is being honored for Sports. Kenny Burns will receive an Entrepreneur honor.
The brunch, which will be preceded by a red carpet at 11 a.m. PT, will also feature entertainment. Singer Amber Riley will perform live.
The recipients of the sixth annual Innovators & Leaders Awards join past honorees, including music producer Swizz Beatz and music producer/DJ D-Nice.
TheGrio music writer Matthew Allen contributed to this article.
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