Chadwick Boseman earns 2 nominations for NAACP Image Awards

LOS ANGELES — With his final two performances, the late Chadwick Boseman earned two NAACP Image Awards nominations Tuesday, while “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” could make its presence felt at next month’s ceremony.

Boseman scored nods for his work in the Netflix films “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The actor, who starred in the blockbuster Marvel film “Black Panther,” died at 43 last year after privately battling colon cancer.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” came away with nine nominations. The film delves into the story of blues singer Ma Rainey, who joins her band during a turbulent recording session at a Chicago music studio in 1927.

The nominees were announced on the organization’s Instagram page by Chloe Bailey, Anika Noni Rose and Nicco Annan, along with T.C. Carson and Erika Alexander.

Netflix emerged with a leading 48 nominations. Besides the two films Boseman starred in, the streaming giant released other projects like “Bridgerton” and “#blackAF.”

HBO received 25 nominations.

Regina King, who won an Academy Award in 2019, has created some Oscar buzz with her feature film directorial debut in “One Night in Miami,” which earned four nominations. The Amazon Studios film tells the story of a meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke in a hotel room that turned into a discussion about their roles in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

King will compete for entertainer of the year against Tyler Perry, Viola Davis, Trevor Noah and D-Nice, the deejay who created a virtual remedy for pandemic lockdown blues with Homeschool at Club Quarantine on his Instagram.

“One Night in Miami” will compete for outstanding motion picture along with “Bad Boys for Life,” “Da 5 Bloods,” “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

LeBron James, Stacey Abrams, Debbie Allen, April Ryan and Tamika Mallory were nominated in the social justice impact category.

In music, Beyoncé scored six nominations in the recording categories, including two for outstanding music video/visual album with “Black is King” and “Brown Skin Girl.”

The nominees for outstanding album include Alicia Key’s “Alicia,” Brandy’s “b7,” John Legend’s “Bigger Love,” Ledisi’s “The Wild Card” and “Chilombo” by Jhene Aiko.

HarperCollins Publishers led with nine nominations in the literary categories.

The awards honouring entertainers and writers of colour will air on CBS on March 27 at 8 p.m. EST. The awards will also simulcast on BET, MTV, VH1, MTV2, BET HER and LOGO.

Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press