Monáe is the third recipient of the award who is both a film and music star, following Kristen Bell and Zendaya.
Janelle Monáe will receive the seventh annual SeeHer Award at the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. The show, hosted by Chelsea Handler, will broadcast live on The CW.
The SeeHer Award honors a woman who advocates for gender equality, portrays characters with authenticity, defies stereotypes and pushes boundaries. SeeHer is a global movement for accurate portrayals of women and girls in media.
Monáe is the third recipient of the award who is both a film and music star, following Kristen Bell (2020) and Zendaya (2021). The other SeeHer recipients have been Viola Davis (2017), Gal Gadot (2018), Claire Foy (2019) and Halle Berry (2022).
Monáe has been nominated for eight Grammys, though she has yet to win. Her top nominations are album of the year for Dirty Computer (2018) and as a featured artist on fun.’s Some Nights (2012) and record of the year as a featured artist on fun.’s “We Are Young” (2012).
Monáe currently stars in Netflix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, alongside Daniel Craig, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, and Leslie Odom Jr. She also starred in Lionsgate’s Antebellum, Focus Features’ biopic Harriet and Disney’s Lady and the Tramp.
Other acting credits include Moonlight, the 2016 Oscar winner for best picture, and Hidden Figures, a nominee in that category that same year.
Monáe was recently honored as the Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year by The Trevor Project. She is a co-chair for When We All Vote, and also spearheads the Fem the Future initiative.
Monáe published her first book, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, in April.
The Critics Choice Awards will broadcast live on The CW on Sunday, Jan. 15 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 pm ET (delayed PT). Bob Bain Productions and Berlin Entertainment will executive produce the show.
As previously announced, actor Jeff Bridges will receive the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.