Taraji P. Henson Talks Hosting BET’S ‘Celebration Of Gospel’

Taraji P. Henson has been discussing hosting BET’s Celebration Of Gospel, which is set to take place on Monday evening.

Henson has replaced Steve Harvey, who has previously hosted the show for the last 13 years, in the role and representatives for the network have admitted that she was hired because of her charisma and quick wit.

Henson has now been discussing why she took the position with Mademenoire.com, and she jokingly admitted that she accepted it because “you don’t say no to God.”

She continued, “It’s a well-established celebration for 14 years. Steve Harvey turned it up. It already has a following. I was honored and blessed and surprised. Not surprised that they picked me, well, kinda.”

Henson then noted that she immediately felt in sync with the producers overseeing the event, explaining, “If you follow me on Twitter and if you know me, you know that I love the Lord, so that’s no secret. So, when I met with the producers, it just felt like the perfect marriage. It just felt like God said, ‘Here’.”

This isn’t the first time that Henson has hosted an awards ceremony though. Back in 2010, alongside her Hustle and Flow co-star, Terrence Howard, she oversaw the Soul Train Awards. Henson was roundly praised for her work that night, with critics stating that she mixed both comedy and class to perfection.

However, BET’s Celebration Of Gospel covers a subject that is even closer to her heart, something that became apparent when she was asked in the same interview when her faith has been tested.

“My faith is tested everyday in small ways,” she responded. “It doesn’t have to be in big ways. My faith is tested everyday and that’s when I go into, ‘God is.’ I went all day yesterday thinking I was having a great day, but then that Devil likes to rear his head when you get comfortable, don’t he? I let him know, I see you and I say, ‘God is’.”

Meanwhile, Henson has also been talking about her new show, Empire, which will once again see her work alongside Howard.

“Empire is like The Sopranos meets Dynasty, plus hip-hop,” she declared. “The empire is a record label and Lucious (Terrence Howard), who plays my husband, is about to take the company public so they stand to make a lot of money.”

She continued, “My character and Lucious both sold drugs when they were really young, and [she thought it was] silly to start the record label so my character goes away, does 17 hard years, comes home and now that the company is about to make so much money, the crabs come out the barrel.”

[Image via Featureflash/Shutterstock]