Jaafar Jackson and Nia Long arrived together at the 2026 BET Awards on Sunday, June 28, and posed for photos on the red carpet at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Long wore a silk brown dress, while Jackson appeared in a navy outfit.
The appearance drew attention because both are tied to Michael, the biographical movie centered on Michael Jackson. Jackson starred as Michael Jackson in the film, and Long played Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, giving their joint arrival a built-in connection that made the red carpet moment land as more than a routine awards-show photo call.
That timing mattered because the show was set to air live on BET at 8pm ET, with simulcasts across BET HER, CMT, LOGO, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, NAN, Paramount, POP, VH1, Comedy Central and TV Land. BET framed the night as a celebration of multifaceted creative expression and Black excellence across music, television, film and sports, and the pairing of the film's stars helped keep Michael visible in front of that audience.
There was still a small wrinkle in the moment: the public appearance itself did not explain why Jackson and Long arrived as a pair, only that they did. Their joint red carpet walk pointed to a deliberate promotional lift for Michael, but the show of support was left for viewers to interpret for themselves as the broadcast approached.
For Long, the red carpet was the headline. For the awards show, it was another way to fold film into a televised night built to reach far beyond the theater, and the live broadcast later that evening was the next place the attention would shift.
