For the star-studded award ceremony, Rihanna wore a vibrant purple Givenchy Haute Couture ensemble, sparkling jewels from Chopard and Kallati as well as a bright red lipstick and matching nails.

Many people also couldn't get enough of her \"structural, sleek ponytail\" that also included cornrows. The look was created by her go-to hairstylist Yusef Williams who used a mix of Suave styling products, a ghd hairdryer, and The Y by Yusef hair tools.

\"When I saw her dress, the first thing I noticed was how voluminous it was. I wanted to create something that would perfectly complement the dress, so we decided to do something sleek, a structural ponytail,\" said Yusef in a statement.

He continued, \"To give the look dimension and make it more graphic, I created a few cornrows that fed into the ponytail. This is a look every girl will want to, and can, recreate tomorrow!\"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yusef (@yusefhairnyc) on Feb 23, 2020 at 9:51am PST

Other notable award recipients at this year's affair included \"Black-ish\" star Tracee Ellis Ross for \"outstanding actress in a comedy series.,\" \"Us\" star Lupita Nyong'o for \"outstanding actress in a motion picture,\" and pop star Lizzo for \"entertainer of the year.\"

Past recipients of the President's Award include Kerry Washington, Spike Lee and Muhammad Ali.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/rihanna-empowering-speech-51st-naacp-image-awards-fix/story?id=69177037","legacySlug":"/culture/story/rihanna-empowering-speech-51st-naacp-image-awards-fix-69177037","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"17:04","publishDate":"02-24-2020","updatedTime":"19:04","updatedDate":"03-04-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Rihanna accepts the President's Award onstage during the 51st NAACP Image Awards, Presented by BET, at Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Feb. 22, 2020 in Pasadena, Calif.","credit":"Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/rihanna-1-gty-aa-200224_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"2/24/2020 17:04:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":69177037,"headline":"Rihanna gives inspiring speech at NAACP Awards","mediaAssetTitle":"Rihanna NAACP","description":"Rihanna told attendees to tell friends \"pull up\" during times of injustice. ","duration":"1:46","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/02/200224_abcnl_naacp_rihanna_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["69161796","69176001","68748296"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"February 23, 2020","headline":"Model, restaurateur B. Smith dies at 70 following battle with early onset Alzheimer's","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/model-restaurateur-smith-dies-70-battle-early-onset-69161796","id":69161796,"image":{"alt":"Model, restaurateur B. Smith dies at 70 following battle with early onset Alzheimer's","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/b-smith-1-gty-er-200223_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Wendell Teodoro/WireImage/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"February 24, 2020","headline":"NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, highlighted in 'Hidden Figures,' dies at 101","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/katherine-johnson-mathematician-real-life-subject-hidden-figures-69176001","id":69176001,"image":{"alt":"NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, highlighted in 'Hidden Figures,' dies at 101","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/johnson-nasa-ht-er-200224_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"NASA","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"February 4, 2020","headline":"Rihanna to receive special honor at 51st NAACP Image Awards","section":"style","slug":"/style/story/rihanna-receive-special-honor-51st-naacp-image-awards-68748296","id":68748296,"image":{"alt":"Rihanna to receive special honor at 51st NAACP Image Awards","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/rihanna-ap-file-ml-200204_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Rihanna gives inspiring speech at NAACP Awards","description":"Rihanna told attendees to tell friends \"pull up\" during times of injustice. ","duration":"1:46","uploadDate":"02-24-2020","publication":"02-24-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/02/200224_abcnl_naacp_rihanna_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/02/200224_abcnl_naacp_rihanna_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/rihanna-empowering-speech-51st-naacp-image-awards-fix-69177037"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977374","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977531","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132962364","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132958371","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Rihanna gives inspiring speech at NAACP Awards","pubTime":"12:04","pubDate":"02-24-2020","modTime":"14:04","modDate":"03-04-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":69177037,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Rihanna gives inspiring speech at NAACP Awards","mediaAssetTitle":"Rihanna NAACP","videoId":69177037,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/rihanna-empowering-speech-51st-naacp-image-awards-fix-69177037"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/69177037","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/69177037","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};