NAACP Image Awards Pre-telecast Night 1 Winner: Will Smith

Smith won the NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work - biography/autobiography for Will, for which he received two Oscar nominations for King Richard.

As with the Primetime Emmys' Creative Arts Awards, the NAACP Image Awards will strip their pre-telecast awards over an entire week. Last night, the awards focused on four new podcast categories.

The only double-winning song of the night was "Jemele Hill Is Unbothered.". In addition to winning best society and culture podcast, it also won for best arts and entertainment podcast.

As a debut author for Just as I Am, Cicely Tyson, who died in January 2021 at age 96, won an award for outstanding literary work.

In addition, Smith is nominated for outstanding actor in a motion picture and outstanding motion picture. The awards will be presented at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards, which will air on Saturday (Feb. 26) at 8PM ET/PT on BET.

The NAACP Image Awards will be announced nightly through Friday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on naacpimageawards.net and on the NAACP Image Awards YouTube channel.

Each night, Billboard will update this story with the latest winners.