Black & Iconic: Style Gods will debut on BET on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 9 p.m. ET. Billy Porter, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award-winning actor/singer, will host the new pioneering documentary film series on BET. Lynne Robinson directed the series, which was produced by Stanley Nelson and Firelight Productions as part of the social impact campaign “”Content For Change” was created to commemorate Black History Month. Black & Iconic: Style Gods will look at how racism and high fashion have influenced people of color on a systemic level, and how those consequences have persisted through time.
Black & Iconic: Style Gods, according to the BET network, will be a four-part, eight-hour documentary series honoring black culture pioneers, idols, and activists, as well as their contributions to fashion, music, cinema, and dance.
According to the BET network’s official description of the docu-series:
“Black + Iconic: Style Gods” weaves dazzling archival footage and original interviews with legendary Black models, fashion designers, and style icons to explore the myriad ways Black people have overcome racism to ultimately blaze an undeniable trail from the streets to the most exclusive runways of high fashion.”
Billy Porter is the presenter of the show Black & Iconic: Style Gods.
Billy Porter, an award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director, producer, musician, and activist, will host and executive produce the new BET documentary series Black & Iconic: Style Gods. The series will look at the Black community’s past achievements in a range of sectors, as well as the effect of black cultural innovators. 53-year-old Billy Porter was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1969. Billy has been in American Horror Story and Law & Order, but he is most known for his Emmy-nominated performance as Pray Tell on FX’s Pose. Porter is also a well-known stage actor, having won a Tony Award for his performance in Kinky Boots.
The Black & Iconic: Style Gods presenter started his theatrical career in Miss Saigon in 1991. In the 1994 revival of Grease, he portrayed a Teen Angel. When he returned to New York City in 2010, he was cast as Belize in the New York Signature Theatre Company’s 20th-anniversary production of Tony Kushner’s two-part epic, Angels of America. Shuffle Along, in which he co-starred with Audra McDonald, was released in 2016.
Porter married Native Ken co-owner Adam Smith on January 14, 2017, after a short engagement. The pair married in a quick ceremony in a friend’s Manhattan penthouse apartment. In 2009, they were acquainted at a dinner party by a mutual friend. They dated for a year before breaking up and reuniting in 2015.
The Black & Iconic: Style Gods presenter made his directorial debut in July 2022 with the coming-of-age drama Anything’s Possible, penned by Ximena Garcia Lecuona. Porter also wrote his first book, Unprotected, which was released by Abrams Press in October 2021. Stranger Things, Porter’s most recent song, was made accessible via his record agreement with Island Records (UK) and Republic Records (US). The Black &Iconic: Style Gods presenter got his second Tony Award for “Best Musical” in 2022, as a producer of A Strange Loop.
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On February 18, 2023, BET Network will air Black & Iconic: Style Gods.
BET Network’s Black & Iconic: Style Gods will premiere on Saturday, February 18, 2023, in honor of Black History Month. The video emphasizes the past achievements of people of color in a range of fields, as well as the impact of black cultural contributions. Black & Iconic: Style Gods was developed for BET by executive producers Connie Orlando and Jason Samuels, alongside senior supervising producer Steven Ramey.
Stanley Nelson, the co-founder of Firelight Films and Executive Producer of the Black + Iconic series, commented of the scope of the documentary series:
“We’re excited to be working with BET again following the success of our first film together, Through the Fire: Barack Obama’s Legacy. I couldn’t think of a finer place for this series honoring Black legends via the many genres in which Black creatives have left an everlasting influence on society.”
BET Executive Connie Orlando, VP, Specials, Music Programming, Music Strategy, and News, also stated:
“With this comprehensive and unique documentary series, we look forward to giving some of the incredible Black luminaries who have created and continue to impact popular culture their well-deserved acclaim. We are honored to once again collaborate with Firelight Films and Stanley Nelson, a cornerstone in the creative and documentary industries, on this pioneering project.”
Orlando went on to say:
“We enjoyed having Billy Porter perform at last year’s BET Awards, and we are pleased to have him narrate ‘Style Gods.’ He is one of the most recognized artists, pioneering figures, and a style legend in his own right. We believe that ‘Black + Iconic’ inspires our audience while also emphasizing how Black people are both the source and driving force of what is hip and next in culture.”
Black & Iconic: Style Gods debuts on BET, BET Her, BET+, and VH1 on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
