Lil Nas X.Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty
Lil Nas Xis expanding on his feelings toward BET.
After making headlines with his criticism of the network for snubbing him at theBET Awards 2022and subsequently releasing his new single “Late to Da Party,” whichdisses BET in its lyrics and artwork, Lil Nas X and members of his team spoke toRolling Stoneabout his “painful and strained” relationship with the organization.
“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,” Lil Nas X told the outlet 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.”
Ahead of the viral performance, which sawLil Nas X kiss one of his backup dancers, the “Old Town Road” hitmaker sparked controversy for giving the devil a lap dance in the sexually-charged “Montero” music video and releasingblood-infused “satan shoes” (modified Nike sneakers) in partnership with MSCHF. Nike then sued the musician, though the suit was settled in April 2021.
Lil Nas X.Johnny Nunez/Getty
Lil Nas X’s performance went viral became easily one of the most notable parts of the ceremony, but his team claimed BET wasn’t pleased. “It didn’t feel celebratory,” said the source. “The response I got back was that they felt taken advantage of.”
Another one of his team members toldRolling Stoneone of the award show’s producers expressed disappointment toward the performance. “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 f—ed up,'” they recalled.
“thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations,” he wrote on Twitter. “black excellence!”
After a fan questioned his tweet and asked why he felt he deserved to be nominated, Lil Nas X responded: “idk maybe 3 of the biggest songs of last year & a critically acclaimed album… i feel like that should’ve helped me a bit.”
Montero, which came out in September, reached No. 2 on theBillboard200 albums chart and was nominated for album of the year at theGrammy Awards.
In a follow-up tweet, Lil Nas X, who identifies as gay, further explained his frustrations, and said it was less about his lack of nominations and more about what he feels is a lack of acceptance.
“this not over no BET award,” he wrote in one post. “this is about the bigger problem of homophobia in the black community, y’all can sit and pretend all u want but imma risk it all for us.”
The BET Awards responded in a statement on June 7, writing, “We love Lil Nas X. He was nominated for a Best New Artist BET Award in 2020, and we proudly showcased his extraordinary talent and creativity on the show twice: he performed ‘Old Town Road’ with Billy Ray Cyrus at BET Awards 2019 and his BET Awards 2021 performance was a highlight of our show. No one cheered louder that night than BET.”
Speaking toRolling Stone, Lil Nas X accused BET of responding to his performance differently behind the scenes. “They say that ‘no one cheered louder’ for me than them that night, but the BET Awards team was actually very upset that I kissed my dancer onstage and vocalized their discontent with multiple members of my team immediately following the performance,” he said.
One of the rapper’s teammates then said, “It’s almost like they didn’t mind sweet kind of gay ‘Old Town Road’ Lil Nas X, but this is too much.”
They continued, “I think BET is doubling down on what they did wrong. Instead of saying, ‘We got it wrong,’ they said, ‘It’s [the voting] community and they don’t f— with him,’ which is bulls—. All the accolades, the achievements Nas has had in his career, all the music people have consumed, the [voting] community doesn’t f— with him? What are you talking about?”
source: people.com
