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28th Jun 2021

Lil Nas X laughs off criticism for kissing male dancer during BET Awards performance

Charlie Herbert

The kiss was part of a memorable performance at the BET Awards

Lil Nas X has laughed off criticism after he kissed one of the male backup dancers who was part of his performance at the BET (Black Entertainment TV) Awards on Sunday night.

Having sang his hit single ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’, followed by a tribute to Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the Time’, the rapper was then involved in an intense kiss with one of his backup dancers.

Depressingly (but predictably) this angered some on social media, including one user who tweeted: “DONT USE AFRICAN CULTURE FOR SHITS LIKE THIS!!!!!!! RESPECT OUR ANCESTORS [sic].”

Now, Lil Nas X isn’t exactly a shrinking violet when it comes to criticism thrown his way, so he decided to calmly put the outraged tweeter in their place, responding: “Y’all really like to pretend homosexuality didn’t exist in african culture.”

Thankfully, the overall response to the rapper’s performance was an overwhelmingly positive one. One of those who praised him for his performance was rapper Diddy (formery P. Diddy).

After the performance, he tweeted: “Lil Nas X did that!! Be fearless!!!”

https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/1409336408259579904

There had been criticism for the BET Awards when the nominees were announced, as Lil Nas X didn’t feature on any of the nominee lists.

There can be no doubt that he still managed to leave his mark on the awards ceremony though.

Lil Nas X came out in 2019, on the last day of Pride month, with his performance on Sunday coming right at the end of Pride month 2021.