Lil Nas X claims BET Awards asked for confirmation that he was not a “satanist or devil worshipper”
Lil Nas X has opened up about his strained relationship with the BET Awards. The awards ceremony, which celebrates African-American artists in the entertainment industry, was met with controversy earlier this year with the release of their 2022 nominations.
Although Lil Nas X released two of the most commercially successful tracks of 2021 with MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) and Industry Baby (featuring Jack Harlow), both of which topped the Billboard Hot 100, the rapper failed to land a single nomination.
In response to the snub, Lil Nas X wrote on Twitter: “An outstanding zero nominations again. Black excellence. 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.” “This is not over no BET award this is about the bigger problem of homophobia in the black community,” he wrote in an additional tweet, “y’all can sit and pretend all u want but I’ma risk it for us.” After Lil Nas X continued to voice his disappointment on social media, the BET Awards released a statement clarifying that no one from BET “serves a member of the Voting Academy” and that they are “passionate 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,” they added.
In a recent statement to Rolling Stone, Lil Nas X revealed that his 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,” he explained. “They did let me perform on their show last year, but only after [I gave] assurances that I was not a satanist or devil
