BET issued a lengthy response on Tuesday (June 7) to Lil Nas X‘s complaints about his lack of nominations for the upcoming 2022 BET Awards. The rapper, who shared his displeasure about not being included in the June 1 nominations announcement among other stars such as Doja Cat, Ari Lennox, Drake and Silk Sonic, doubled down just hours before by sharing a clip of a new diss song in which he sings “F— BET” over and over.
“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,” read the statement.
“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. 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.”
It remains to be seen if the explanation will assuage Lil Nas’ anger, which he vented in a since-deleted string of tweets calling out the annual awards show for not giving him even one nomination this year.
“thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again,” he wrote in his first tweet, adding a sarcastic “black excellence!”
At the time, some commenters took issue with Lil Nas’s tweet, asking him why he felt he should have been nominated, prompting the “Call Me By Your Name” singer to offer them some quick insights.
“idk maybe 3 of the biggest songs of last year & a critically acclaimed album,” he said in response to one Twitter user. “i feel like that should’ve helped me a bit.” When another commenter claimed that his last few records weren’t hip-hop, he clapped back saying, “they have a pop category.”
Lil Nas, who was nominated for five BET Hip Hop Awards in 2019 and 2021, also spoke at the time about how it feels like he’s fighting an uphill battle most of the time, even with the success he’s already achieved. “doesn’t even have to be me nominated,” he wrote. “i just feel like black gay ppl have to fight to be seen in this world and even when we make it to the top mfs try to pretend we are invisible.”
In the clip uploaded on June 7, the rapper sits shirtless in his car as he lip-syncs, “F— BET, f— BET/ F— BET, f— BET/ Lick it on up, slurp it/ Make it sloppy, ok, ok, ok, ok/ Look at how I top sh–/ I just put like three up in the top 10/ And I don’t need nobody/ I just need these ccs on my body/ Everything I do be tryna run, go make a profit/ Read about it.”
