BET released a statement following Lil Nas X's tweet storm and his song slamming the network.
Lil Nas X released a new song slamming BET after calling out the network for leaving him off the list of this year's nominees for the BET Awards.
The Montero rapper previewed the track, which appeared to be titled, "F**K BET," in a video shared to Twitter on Tuesday. In the clip, a shirtless Lil Nas X raps along with the song which calls out the network for snubbing him, while listing his accolades as a chart-topping artist.
The song comes just days after the 23-year-old artist took to Twitter to vent his frustrations about being snubbed by the show for the second year in a row -- and on the first day of Pride Month and Black Music Month, too.
"Thank you, BET Awards. An outstanding zero nominations again," he sarcastically wrote in a now-deleted tweet. "Black excellence!"
BET responded to Lil Nas X's new song and tweet storm with a statement of their own, saying that they not only love the rapper, but have showcased "his extraordinary talent and creativity" twice on their show, once at the BET Awards in 2019 and again in 2021.
"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," the statement began before sharing the reason why Lil Nas X didn't see his name among this year's nominees.
"Unfortunately, this year, he was not nominated by BET’s Voting Academy, which 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," BET went on to explain. "At BET, we are passionate advocates for the wonderful diversity that exists within our community. We are committed to using all of our platforms to provide visibility and inclusion for all of the many intersections of the Black community."
Lil Nas X responded to the statement, saying, "These are literally just buzz words placed together."
While the GRAMMY winner has had a shaky past with the BET Awards, receiving a wave of homophobic backlash following his performance of "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" in which he shared a passionate kiss with dancer and then-boyfriend Yai Ariza, his tweets were met with support from fans who questioned how the awards show could nominate Jack Harlow, a white artist, for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist but not give a highly successful Black artist his props.
"Now when Lil Nas X career continues to pop and he lands bigger world stages they gone use that narrative that 'Black artists aren’t supporting Black awards/platforms' … when you literally could’ve just supported these artists before they blow up," culture and entertainment journalist Daric Cottingham tweeted.
"There’s no finish line. We know the reason, but I’m pointing out the shielded excuse they’ll use down the line. Because it never fails, it's the same old song on repeat from these platforms," he added.
The 2022 BET Awards will air Sunday, June 26, on BET at 8 p.m. ET/ PT. The annual awards show will be hosted by Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress Taraji P. Henson for the second year in a row.
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