Precious scored six wins at the 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards over the weekend.


 
The film swept the awards taking the prize in every category it was nominated in. The big win of the night went to Gabourey Sidibe, who took out the award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. She’d been nominated for several big awards, but had largely been shut out until Sunday.


 
“It’s an honor to be nominated, but it’s an honor to win,” said Gabourey as she accepted the award from Chris Rock.


 
What should have been a perfect evening for the newcomer hit a sour note when the cast and crew of Precious received the prize for Outstanding Motion Picture, when Director Lee Daniels, who also won the award for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture, made a huge gaffe during his acceptance speech.


 
"No one in Hollywood told me they wanted to see a movie about a 350-pound black girl who had HIV,” he blurted out before quickly correcting his flub. "She's not 350 pounds, Gabby…but the book says…before you were hired."

 
Although Gabby was visibly upset by the comment, she was gracious in checking him for the slip and in accepting his profuse apologies off stage.


 
Mo’Nique added another statuette to her trophy case by winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Odds were definitely in Precious’ favor in this category as both Mariah Carey and Paula Patton were also up for the award.


 
Tyler Perry also had a good night at the Image Awards. His “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” dominated in the sitcom categories, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Tyler was honored to win the award, and he explained the driving force behind his creative vision during his time onstage.


 
“I wanted to use my television show to not only make us laugh but to show us we don’t just have to act in the sitcom, we can own the show and the network,” said Tyler. “I wanted to use giving and philanthropy to show us that we don’t have to be at the end of the line waiting for a hand out, we can be at the front giving the hand up. And I wanted to own a studio to show us, we don’t have to wait for somebody to give us 40 acres and a mule, we can buy our own.

"
 
“House of Payne” stars Cassi Davis, Lance Gross and Keisha Knight-Pulliam also took home awards for their parts in the series.



-- Sonya Eskridge

Here’s more:
‘Precious’ crew earns Oscar noms
‘Precious’ scores Golden Globe noms
Mo’Nique’s winning weekend
A day in Lance Gross’ life