The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) Honors today announced Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, Django Unchained, Just Mercy) will be the recipient of its Excellence in the Arts Award, which honors a contemporary artist whose stellar work has received critical acclaim. Foxx is a multiaward-winning actor, singer and comedian whose career spans more than 30 years. Just this year, he received multiple nominations and honors for his portrayal of Walter McMillian in Just Mercy, which is also among the nominees for the ABFF Honors Movie of the Year Award. 

Previous recipients of the Excellence in the Arts Award include Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Academy Award winner Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) and director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton). 

“We are honoring Jamie Foxx for his phenomenal body of work, which spans comedy, music, television and film,” said ABFF Ventures CEO Jeff Friday. “We are honored to celebrate his achievements and contributions to Black culture and entertainment.

Foxx began his career in entertainment as a stand-up comic, which soon led to his being cast on the groundbreaking television show In Living Color (1990); from 1996 to 2001, Foxx starred in his own TV comedy, The Jamie Foxx Show. For his stunning portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film Ray, Foxx won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; a BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical; and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. The same year, he was also nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his work in the thriller Collateral

Foxx also is a Grammy Award-winning musician, releasing four albums that have charted high on the Billboard 200 chart: Unpredictable (2005), which topped the chart; Intuition (2008); Best Night of My Life (2010); and Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses (2015).

Presented by ABFF Ventures, the 2020 ABFF Honors, hosted by Emmy-nominated comedian and actor Deon Cole (black-ish), will take place on February 23 in Los Angeles. Previously announced honorees include Academy Award winner Louis Gossett Jr., recipient of the Hollywood Legacy Award; Emmy Award winner Lena Waithe, who is receiving the Industry Renaissance Award; Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo recipent of the Rising Star Award; and HBO’s The Wire will receive the Classic Television Award. Sponsors to date include American Airlines, BET, Cadillac and Hilton (Red Carpet); Crown Royal (Official Spirit); Accenture, Curated By Media, Focus Features, FX, Motion Pictures Association (MPA), Prudential Financial, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. (Supporting) and Variety (Media).