Janet Jackson’s Billboard Award Speech Referenced #MeToo

The legendary Janet Jackson accepted her Billboard Icon Award last night, and she referenced the #MeToo movement.

“I believe that, for all of our challenges, we live at a glorious moment in history,” she said. “It’s a moment that, at long last, women have made it clear that we will no longer be controlled, manipulated, or abused. I stand with those women and with those men equally outraged by discrimination, who support us in heart and mind.”

She continued, “My prayer is that, weary of such noise, we will turn back to the source of all calmness, that source is God. Everything we lack, God has in abundance: compassion, sensitivity, patience and boundless love. Again I want to thank all of you for this honor and I thank God for giving me the precious energy that lets me live my life as an artist who every day seeks to expend my capacity to love.”

Jackson is the first black woman to receive the Icon Award. What a night!