Ahead of the 2022 BET Awards this past Sunday, and about a year after his performance at the 2021 event, Lil Nas X has chosen to dish on his beef with the network.
Lil Nas X & anonymous members of his team speak on the #BETAwards pic.twitter.com/boZjLtLYQt
— 𝙈𝘼𝙅𝙊𝙍 🔱 (@lilnasxmajor) June 26, 2022
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Lil Nas X revealed that, despite what people may believe, he and BET have had behind-the-scenes issues for a while.
“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 said.
“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,” he continued.
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Some anonymous members of the “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” rapper’s also spoke on the situation between Lil Nas X and BET.
“The response we got back [last year] was, ‘We need to clarify a few things. Is he a Satanist? Are there going to be elements of devil worship or Satan in the show?’ I was so taken aback by it,” one source said.
“At some point after [Lil Nas X] 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**ked up,'” a second anonymous source added.
Lil Nas X went on to corroborate these statements.
“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,” the rapper noted.
In response, a spokesperson for BET said the “summation of events around Lil Nas X’s 2021 BET Awards performance is simply untrue.”
“Since last year’s performance, we have been in touch to work on other projects,” the spokesperson noted. “We are still excited about his previous performances and continue to wish him well. But today, we are focused on culture’s biggest night and delivering history-making moments for fans worldwide,” the spokesperson told Rolling Stone.
This situation comes a few weeks after Lil Nas X blasted the BET Awards for not nominating him for any awards, as Blavity previously reported.
Aside from discussing the situation in now-deleted tweets, Lil Nas X and NBA YoungBoy unveiled a track called “Late To Da Party (F*CK BET)” shortly after. Notably, the single’s cover art features a BET Award sitting in a pee-filled toilet.
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What are your thoughts on the situation between Lil Nas X and BET?
