Jada Pinkett Smith Will Receive The MTV Trailblazer Award At The Video And Television Ceremony

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith will be recognized by MTV as the network’s latest Trailblazer Awards recipient.

According to Yahoo News, Smith was chosen by them to be the newest trailblazer on Tuesday. The actress will reportedly be presented the award by her Girl’s Trip co-star Tiffany Haddish. Historically, the award has gone to entertainers who have “fresh and fearless” voices and use their influence to embark change in society. With the award, Smith joins Channing Tatum, Shailene Woodley, and Lena Waithe as past recipients of the honor. Waithe was the award show’s recipient of the award last year. Amy Doyle, who is the general manager of MTV, VH1, LOGO, and CMT, said that Smith was the perfect celebrity to receive the award at the 2019 MTV Movie and Television Awards.

“Jada has been a powerhouse since the beginning of her career and has achieved multi-hyphenate status throughout,” Doyle said.

“She is the epitome of someone who is not afraid to challenge the status quo, and we are thrilled to present her with this year’s Trailblazer Award.”

While Smith has been in Hollywood for more than two decades, the actress’ recent venture, Red Table Talk, has gained the star a new audience. The Inquisitr shared that the show, which Smith co-hosts with her mother Adrienne Banfield Norris and her daughter Willow, became the first Facebook Watch show to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award. The show was among the ranks of long-standing daytime talk shows like NBC’s Today Show with Kathie Lee & Hoda and syndicated programs Access Live, The Dr. Oz Show, and Rachael Ray.

Smith recently told Fast Company that she saw the launch of her show as a hobby and as a way to cover more topics with her mother and daughter in a bigger way.

“I did not expect this kind of response and this kind of success with Red Table Talk, but it’s the one [part of my career] that I’m most passionate about,” she says.

“I was looking at this to be more for, like, a hobby. It’s taken the forefront–this is the thing I want to do.”

The annual award show will be hosted by Shazam star Zachary Levi. Performances at the event include Lizzo and Bazzi. Yahoo reports that “The Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary RBG leads the nominations alongside pop culture behemoths Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones.” The award show is set to air on Monday, June 17.