Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe, and More Stand Up For Abortion Rights at the BET Awards

While accepting the award for best female R&B/pop artist, Sullivan dedicated her acceptance speech to the women she makes music for and proposed a call to action to all the men in the room. "It's a hard time right now for us, and I want to speak directly to the men — we need y'all," she said. "We need y'all to stand up, stand up for us, stand up with us. If you've ever benefitted from a woman making one of the toughest decisions of her life — which is to terminate a pregnancy — you need to be standing with us. This is not just a women's issue, this is everybody's issue."

The "Heaux Tales" singer concluded her speech, saying, "We need your support more than ever, OK, fellas? Y'all got us? Because we got y'all."

"It's about damn time we talk about the fact that guns have more rights than a woman," Henson proclaimed during her opening monologue. "A weapon that can take lives has more power than a woman who can give life, if she chooses to."

As she presented the nominees for best female R&B/pop artist, Monáe took a moment to also touch on human rights in reference to the SCOTUS's Roe v. Wade ruling. "To Black queer artists, to Black nonbinary artists, these artists making art on our own terms, owning our truths, and expressing ourselves freely and unapologetically in a world that tries to control and police our bodies, my body, our decisions, and my decisions," she said to the audience, adding, "F*ck the Supreme Court."

"Sistas" stars KJ Smith, Mignon Von, Ebony Obsidian, Novi Brown, and Crystal Renee Hayslett briefly spoke on abortion rights as they presented the nominees for the youngstars award Sunday night. "In light of the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade and political events affecting our nation, it's time for sistas across the world to join hands and lift our voices," Brown said.

Smith added: "And the way to be heard is to hit those voting polls." "We cannot afford to be silent, not now," Hayslett remarked. "The power to make these decisions belongs to us. It's our body, and it's our choice."