Lil Nas X Calls Out BET Awards After Not Being Nominated

Lil Nas X has had quite a successful year since releasing his album Montero in September and being nominated for five Grammys after taking home two Grammys in 2020. So, when he was not nominated for a BET award this year, it is safe to say that many people were shocked.  The BET Awards were created in order to celebrate Black people in fields of entertainment like music, sports, or television, but Lil Nas now says he feels that his femininity and openness regarding his sexuality are what prevented him from being nominated. When the awards were released last week, Lil Nas tweeted “thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again. black excellence!”

The BET Awards later responded, saying that they love Lil Nas, who performed at the 2019 and 2021 awards but “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.” They said, “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.”

He then deleted the Tweets, but now he is doubling down on his original statement. He posted a video of him lip-syncing to his new single, sharing just a snippet of the unreleased song titled “Late to Da Party”, where he clearly states his opinion on the BET awards. When Lil Nas first tweeted about his issues with the awards, he was met with some criticism, which may be why he deleted his original tweets. This time, he was met with some of the same comments, with one person asking why he was “acting like this” since he has a Grammy. But, he says this was his whole point, saying “this is my point exactly how can I get acknowledged by the most acclaimed award show in the world and then not even just 1 nomination from my own people? is that not crazy?”

Lil Nas explains on Twitter that his disappointment does not come from the lack of nominations, but instead from the larger issue he believes it points to. He writes that “this not over no bet award this is about the bigger problem of homophobia in the black community.” Although Lil Nas has been open about his sexuality from the beginning of his career, he has been the center of controversy after embracing things more “traditionally feminine,” like wearing dresses or when he kissed a male dancer on stage at his BET Awards performance last year. He believes that this is what swayed the decision on his lack of nominations.

Some did not see the correlation, others online were in full agreement. For example, many pointed out that Jack Harlow was nominated for a BET award, despite being white. “Jack Harlow got a BET award nom and Lil Nas X didn’t? During pride month? During Black Music History month? Is that what I’m seeing?” “I’m glad Lil Nas X is making noise about this BET stuff. A nomination from them is absolutely inconsequential to his career at this point, but the blatant exclusion is flat-out old-fashioned homophobia and that’s the point,” another person agreed. So, whether or not people online see his point of view seems to not matter to Lil Nas X, who continues to fight against the oppression of not just queer people, but queer people of color as well.

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