Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cardi B and British star Ella Mai among winners at BET Awards

British star Ella Mai was among the winners at the BET Awards (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
British star Ella Mai was among the winners at the BET Awards (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Cardi B and British star Ella Mai were among those to pick up gongs at the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards.

The annual ceremony celebrates black and minority entertainers in music, film, TV and sport and took place in Los Angeles.

A star-studded audience including Rihanna, John Legend and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs watched as Cardi B took home the first big prize of the night, scooping album of the year.

The 26-year-old won for her Grammy-winning major label debut, Invasion Of Privacy.

Taking to the stage, she said the “numbers don’t lie” about the record, which has been certified triple platinum in the US.

2019 BET Awards
Cardi B accepted the album of the year award for Invasion of Privacy (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

She added: “I’m glad I made an album that your sister, your mother, your grandmother, like it.”

Cardi B, 26, won album of the year ahead of Travis Scott’s Astroworld, Meek Mill’s Championships, The Carters’ Everything Is Love and Mai’s self-titled effort.

Disappointment did not last long for London-born Mai, who enjoyed a breakout year in the US thanks to her huge single Boo’d Up.

The 24-year-old won the viewers’ choice award for her song Trip, seeing off heavyweight competition in the form of Drake, Childish Gambino and Scott.

2019 BET Awards
London-born Ella Mai won the viewers’ choice award for Trip (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Accepting the prize, Mai thanked BET, saying she was a “little girl from London, England” and “this is proof that you let the music do the talking”.

Performers at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles included Lizzo, DJ Khalid, Migos and H.E.R.

Rapper Lil Nas X and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus treated the audience to their number one hit, the genre-bending Old Town Road.

The so-called Central Park Five, who were wrongly convicted of rape in a case dramatised by Netflix drama When They See Us, were given a standing ovation as they took to the stage to introduce singer-songwriter H.E.R.

2019 BET Awards
Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X performed Old Town Road (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

The men, all black or Hispanic, spent between five and 15 years in prison for a crime they did not commit, with Donald Trump, then a Manhattan real estate mogul, calling for them to be executed before they had stood trial.

Rihanna, recently named the richest female musician in the world, introduced lifetime achievement award honouree Mary J Blige, thanking her for opening “multiple doors for female artists in this industry”.

Blige, who started her career in 1989 and has since sold more than 80 million records around the world, is often dubbed the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul.

2019 BET Awards
Lifetime achievement award winner Mary J Blige performed a medley of her hits (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

She said: “This journey has always been bigger than me and my mission is not only just to survive, right now it’s to thrive and continue to make history while I do it.”

Blige, 48, then performed a medley of her biggest hits, including No More Drama and Just Fine.

Two other honorary awards were handed out at the ceremony. Late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot dead earlier this year, was honoured with the humanitarian award.

Snoop Dogg and filmmaker Ava DuVernay were among those paying tribute, while John Legend and DJ Khaled performed Higher, their single with Hussle.

2019 BET Awards
John Legend performed in tribute to late rapper Nipsey Hussle (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Filmmaker Tyler Perry, best known for creating the character of Madea, a tough, elderly black woman, won the icon award.

Elsewhere, If Beale Street Could Talk star Regina King won best actress while international act went to Nigeria’s Burna Boy, who won ahead of British acts Dave and Giggs.

The BET Awards were established in 2001 and the first prize at the inaugural ceremony went to hip-hop duo Outkast.