Victoria Monét surprised by her mother at 2024 Billboard Women in Music awards

Monét, the night’s Rising Star winner, and her mom, L’Tanya Chestang Cubit, shared a special moment on the awards show stage.

Victoria Monét shared the ultimate mama moment after winning at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music.

The 34-year-old Rising Star honoree performed her hit single, “On My Mama,” at the Billboard Women in Music show at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, on Wednesday. After finishing, Monét began to make her way across the stage to accept her Billboard trophy and speak to those in attendance. The singer was shocked to see her mother, L’Tanya Chestang Cubit, presenting her with the Rising Star Award.

“She didn’t tell me she was coming, y’all!” Monét told the audience as she gave her proud mama a big hug.

Cubit gushed about her daughter, highlighting Monét’s recent achievements — including winning three Grammy Awards and NAACP Image Award nominations — to the YouTube Theater audience.

“I remember how you were a little girl, and you were too shy to tell your teacher that you did not have a seat,” Cubit said to Monét while holding her hand. “So, you sat with your knees bent and legs crossed and pretended you had a chair. Baby girl, not only do you have a seat at the table, but it’s front and center.”

The thrilled vocalist then accepted her prize and gave her own speech, in which she thanked her mother for showing up for her.

“It’s one thing to receive an award, but to receive it from someone you’ve known your whole life is really awesome,” Monét said of Cubit. “Thank you so much for being here.”

The singer and mother of one went to talk about her career journey and finally achieving stardom after years in the music industry. For years, Monét worked as a songwriter, writing songs for other artists such as Ariana Grande, while she pursued her own artist dreams. In 2023, Monét finally received her flowers and experienced her hard-earned singing breakthrough.

“When I think about what a star is, I know the definition is a self-luminous thing that radiates by energy derived from its own internal sources,” Monét said in her acceptance speech. “Some of those sources I reached for internally were probably passion, hard work, and focus.”

“I also know that when you look at any star, it’s surrounded by millions of other stars in the night sky. That’s all of you,” she continued. “There’s so many stars in this room, behind the scenes, in front of the curtains. I want to shout out all of you women here, who are sometimes doing thankless jobs.”

“I’m fully aware that not every star can be seen by the naked eye,” Monét concluded, “so I want to shine the light tonight on my team. … I really appreciate this award. Because what is a star without someone to recognize it and acknowledge its existence?”

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