Lil Nas X has no love for BET after not scoring any nominations in the organization’s upcoming award show. He posted a video to social media this week, simply captioned “FUCK BET! FUCK BET!” In the video, the artist repeats the sentiment over and over — in what he later said is a track called "Late to Da Party" — calling out homophobia in the Black community, he tweeted.
\u201cFUCK BET! FUCK BET! \ud83e\udd27\u201d— MONTERO (@MONTERO) 1654634977
Last week, after Lil Nas X was nowhere to be found on BET’s award nominations list, he tweeted his frustration (which he has since deleted). He wrote, per Complex, “thank you, bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again. black excellence!”
That wasn’t enough for the “Industry Baby” singer, but the one-minute diss track managed to garner a statement from BET about all of it.
They released a statement, per Variety, which reads, “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. 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.”
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The statement goes on to say that BET cares about diversity and is “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 has maintained that this track’s purpose doesn’t solely come down to not getting a nomination at the BET Awards, especially considering how many other awards he’s been nominated for, but the fact that the BET Awards celebrate Black artists, and he’s left out.
When one fan asked why he was doing all this despite being Grammy nominated, he called out just that. “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? am i really tripping,” he tweeted.
\u201cthis 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? am i really tripping\u201d— MONTERO (@MONTERO) 1654637182
Lil Nas X was nominated for a BET Award for Best New Artist in 2020, but did not win.
Photo via Getty