BET's Critically Acclaimed Scripted Series "AMERICAN SOUL" Returns for Season Two Wednesday, May 27 at 10 PM ET/PT

NEW YORK -- Today, BET announces "AMERICAN SOUL" season two will premiere on Wednesday, May 27 at 10 PM ET/PT. Inspired by the personal trials and professional successes of a young, ambitious and troubled impresario Don Cornelius, the period drama picks up two years later in 1975. As Don becomes a rising star, he continues to manage an assortment of spectacular talent that comes to his show, a complicated family life, failing personal health, and perhaps most importantly, his ego. The eight-episode season of "AMERICAN SOUL" features a cast of multi-talented actors including Sinqua Walls who plays a young Don Cornelius. Series regulars also include Kelly Price, Jason Dirden, Iantha Richardson, Katlyn Nichol, and Christopher Jefferson.

The new season features dynamic guest stars portraying some of the most prolific musicians and visionaries of the era. Big Boi (Grammy(R) Award-winning rapper, "Idlewild"), Ledisi (Grammy(R) Award-nominated artist, "Selma"), Melanie Fiona (Grammy(R) Award-winning singer) Demetria McKinney ("House of Payne"), London Brown ("Ballers"), Darius McCrary ("Family Matters," "Transformers"), Tone Bell ("Little," "Fam") Yung Joc ("Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta"), D.C. Young Fly ("Wild N 'Out," "The New Edition Story"), Christopher B. Duncan ("Black Lightning"), Kearran Giovanni ("Major Crimes," "Black Lightning"), Alex Ball ("NCIS") and Hudson Thames ("Malibu Country") will lend their talents throughout the season.

"AMERICAN SOUL" Season Two Trailer:

"AMERICAN SOUL" BTS Package:

Produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment, season two of "AMERICAN SOUL" is executive produced by Jesse Collins, Jonathan Prince, Tony Cornelius, and Judith McCreary. McCreary also serves as the series showrunner.

For more information about "AMERICAN SOUL" visit the network's official show page at BET.com, and join the conversation on social @BET #AmericanSoulBET.

About BET

BET, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIACA, VIAC), 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 is in 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, sub-Saharan Africa, and France. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions including BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET HER, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American Woman; BET Music Networks - BET Jams, BET Soul and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, BET's growing festival business; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET around the globe.

ABOUT JESSE COLLINS ENTERTAINMENT

Jesse Collins Entertainment (JCE) is a full service television and film production company founded by entertainment industry veteran, NAACP Image(R) Award winner and Emmy(R) Award nominee Jesse Collins. For more than a decade, the company has played an integral role in producing some of television's most memorable moments in music entertainment. JCE produced the critically acclaimed biopic The New Edition Story, the story on the boy band that aired as a 3-part mini-series and posted record ratings for BET and attracted nearly 30 million viewers. It was followed by The Bobby Brown Story, which chronicled the talented but troubled singer's exit from the popular '80s boy band through his solo success, and was the highest rated non-tentpole program on the network since The New Edition Story. The next mini-series for JCE is Uptown, a 3-part original scripted miniseries for BET that will chronicle the story of producer Andre Harrell's iconic record label, Uptown Records. The company's current scripted TV series is American Soul, the story about the struggle to make the dream of Soul Train, the first nationally-syndicated Black music show, come true. It ended its first season as the #1 new cable scripted drama for African Americans 18-49 and its second season debuts in May 2020. Previously, JCE produced BET's hit TV series Real Husbands of Hollywood starring Kevin Hart that ran for 5 seasons. On the unscripted side, JCE produces annual live specials - the BET Awards, Soul Train Awards and the BET Hip Hop Awards. Past credits include Black Girls Rock!, UNCF's An Evening of Stars, ABFF Honors, BET Honors, Love & Happiness: An Obama Farewell, VH1's Dear Mama, HBO's Amanda Seales I Be Knowin;' Netflix's Def Comedy Jam 25 and Leslie Jones: Time Machine. JCE's game shows include VH1's Hip Hop Squares with Ice Cube and CMT's Nashville Squares. Its music competition series on BET, Sunday Best is now in its 10th season and Netflix's Rhythm & Flow featuring judges Tip "T.I." Harris, Cardi B and Chance the Rapper will soon begin production on its second season that will air in 2021. Collins is also a producer for The Grammy Awards. He was on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop 100 Power Players list, has been featured on the cover of Vibe magazine and in numerous publications including Ebony magazine's Power 100 issue. Go to http://www.jessecollinsent.com/ for more information on the company.