BET has announced its youngest host in history for the upcoming BET Awards. This summer, the 31-year-old content creator and comedian Druski will emcee the event, putting on for the new wave of comedians whose fame came from virality.
In an announcement for the award show on June 28, Druski, whose full name is Drew Desbordes, told BET’s audience that “If I’m hosting, we gon’ do this my way,” quipping that he will be strict about the dress code (“take that big a– hat off,” Jamie Foxx, no bodysuits, Sexyy Red).
Before Druski, the youngest person to host the award show was Kevin Hart in 2011.
Not only is the Georgia-raised comedian representing a new generation, but as a content creator who gained notoriety through internet skits, he’s showing how the path for comedians, actors, and other creative types to find success has changed. Unlike his BET Awards predecessors, like Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Anthony Anderson, or even Amanda Seales, Druski rose to fame without Hollywood’s initial stamp of approval. That came later.
Posting his videos online in the late 2010s, the Coulda Been Records creator was called a modern-day anthropologist for his eerily observant sketches poking fun at frat boys or Forex traders. As he gained more followers, the places he used as film sets became more impressive. More recently, the internet went crazy over his use of a megachurch to parody greedy pastors and his full-on white woman drag for a video about conservative women in America; his comments were flooded with viewers wondering how he gained the access and resources to pull off his content.
Druski has also produced multiple web series through his brand, 4lifers Entertainment, including “Coulda Been Records,” “Coulda Been Love,” and “Coulda Been House.”
Even though he came up outside of the traditional entertainment industry, plenty of stars have cosigned the Forbes 30 Under 30 star. Drake was an early Druski supporter, putting him in the “Laugh Now, Cry Later” music video in 2020, which Druski has called a career-defining shift. Now, he’s worked with A-listers like Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, and Timothée Chalamet.
He’s basically an industry darling at this point, but now leading one of BET’s biggest events, it shows that Black Hollywood is catching up to what millions of chronically online social media users have been laughing about for years.
