Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Cicely Tyson and Common to Deliver Dazzling Performances at BET HONORS 2012

CUBA GOODING JR. AND TERRENCE HOWARD WILL PRESENT AWARDS TO HONOREES WITH APPEARANCES BY WILLOW SMITH AND MANY MORE

GABRIELLE UNION HOSTS

Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Spike Lee, The Tuskegee Airmen and Beverly Kearney are the Honorees at BET HONORS Premiering on Monday, February 13, at 9:00 PM*

NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2012 -- The fifth annual BET HONORS gears up for a highly anticipated show, celebrating the outstanding achievements of extraordinary legends in music, literature, entertainment, media, service and education. Acclaimed actress Gabrielle Union hosts the show for a fourth year, honoring renowned poet/author Maya Angelou (Literary Arts), internationally acclaimed musician Stevie Wonder (Musical Arts), Grammy-Award winning songstress Mariah Carey (Entertainer), influential filmmaker Spike Lee (Media), the heroic Tuskegee Airmen (Service) and inspirational coach and mentor Beverly Kearney (Education). The BET HONORS premieres during Black History Month, on Monday, February 13 at 9:00 p.m.*

The BET HONORS, star-studded lineup includes performances by Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Cicely Tyson andCommon, with appearances by Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard and Willow Smith. The show tapes at the historic Warner Theatre on Saturday, January 14 in Washington, D.C.

Stephen Hill, President of Music Programming and Specials, BET Networks, and Lynne Harris Taylor, Vice President of Specials, BET Networks, are executive producers, along with Cossette Productions.

Lexus is this year's returning sponsor for the BET HONORS red carpet and VIP reception.

Proceeds from this year's BET HONORS private ticket sales will be given to Metro TeenAIDS. Metro TeenAIDS, a longtime partner of BET, is a community health organization dedicated to supporting young people in the fight against HIV/AIDS, through education, support, and advocacy.

For more information on the BET HONORS, visit www.bet.com/bethonors. Viewers can also find series updates on Facebook by liking the fan pages at www.facebook.com/BETHonors. Also, join the conversation about the special on Twitter by using hashtags: #BETHonors; follow the show for all updates & special surprises @BETHonors. For more information about this special visit www.BET.com.

*All times EST

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.