The rapper has taken aim at the award in recent weeks
Lil Nas X has revealed that he was made to assure the BET Awards that he wasn’t a satanist before taking stage for the 2021 ceremony and claims he was criticised by one of the producers for his high-profile same-sex kiss.
The 23-year-old rapper has made no secret of his disappointment after not receiving a nomination this year, not only making “F*** BET” the hook of his latest single but alleging that the snub is symptomatic of “the bigger problem of homophobia in the black community”. However, it would seem that the relationship has been souring since last year’s show.
https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1534276413863256064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1534276413863256064%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.teenvogue.com%2Fstory%2Flil-nas-x-calls-out-homophobia-in-black-community-after-2022-bet-awards-snub
“My relationship with BET has been painful and strained for quite some time. It didn’t start with this year’s nominations like most people might think,” he told Rolling Stone in a statement. “They did let me perform on their show last year, but only after [I gave] assurances that I was not a satanist or devil worshiper, and that my performance would be appropriate for their audience.”
That wasn’t the first time Little Nas X has been accused of promoting satanism, as he was forced to defend himself following the release of a limited edition pair of Nikes that contained a drop of blood.
Even though the performance went ahead, some of those present on the night apparently took umbrage with the viral moment where he kissed one of his dancers.
A member of the “Old Town Road” singer’s team told the magazine: “At some point after [Nas] got offstage, one of the BET producers came up to me and before I could even open my mouth, he looked at me and said, ‘That was really fucked up’.”
BET have responded following Nas’s criticism, saying that their “Voting Academy … is comprised of an esteemed group of nearly 500 entertainment professionals in the fields of music, television, film, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, influencers, and creative arts.
“No one from BET serves as a member of the Voting Academy”, they went on to add, dismissing the claims of negative vias by insisting that “no one cheered louder that night than BET” during his performance.
You can watch Nas’s 2021 BET Awards rendition of his song “Montero” below:
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