“I worked my ass off [for] 20 years for this,” Taylor told the crowd, before taking her glasses off to clean the steam from the lenses.
“So I’m not accepting what I’ve earned with arrogance, I’m accepting what I’ve earned with gratitude.
“And this year alone I continue to give the world the artist, actress, director, choreographer, creative director, stylist, designer, writer, producer and chef! I graduated in September, y’all!”
The latter reference was about her training at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, which she juggled with her film and music careers.
This year has seen Taylor win a Golden Globe and receive an Oscar nomination for her role in One Battle After Another and a Grammy nomination for her album Escape Room.
She went on to tell the BET crowd that “this business can be very wicked [because] it teaches us to compete”.
“I believe greatness isn’t measured by how many people stand beneath you,” she continued. “It’s measured by how many people stand beside you because you’re willing to reach back. That’s the only legacy I care about.”
Elsewhere at the ceremony, hip-hop duo Clipse won three prizes – album of the year, best group, and best collaboration for their song Chains & Whips with Kendrick Lamar.
British singer Olivia Dean was named best new artist after a year in which she has established herself as a bona fide global star.
Lauryn Hill received the inaugural living legend icon award, and made a surprise performance after a star-stdded tribute medley featuring Nas, SZA, Doechii, Lizzo, Doja Cat, Common and Queen Latifah.
The beloved singer, 51, rose to fame as part of The Fugees and released her seminal solo record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998 – still her only studio album.
Addressing her fans, she said: “We hold different gifts. Someone else’s gifting might be fashion. Might be hair. Might be consoling someone. It might be this microphone.
“But that gifting is very important because somebody out there needs your gift. So don’t sell your gift short.”
