Popular rapper Jack Harlow wore a Lil Nas X t-shirt to the 2022 BET Awards over the weekend, showing support for his fellow “Industry Baby” collaborator, who was not invited to participate in the show despite being one of the most famous artists.
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Lil Nas X was snubbed at the BET Awards and on the heels of that, he called out the show for “an outstanding zero nominations again. Black excellence!” Lil Nas X wrote about being snubbed on social media after the BET Awards released their nominees.
As of 2022, the Montero rapper, who is also rumored to be collaborating with Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, has garnered one BET Award.
He also released a clip of “Late to the Party,” which opens with a chant of “Fuck BET.”
But when Lil Nas X saw Harlow’s support via the t-shirt, he was thrilled, writing on Twitter, “wow i really love this man.”
Despite being one of the highest-charting Black artists of the year, Lil Nas didn’t receive any 2022 BET Award nominations. The lack of recognition led to near-immediate backlash from Lil Nas as well as his supporters for not honoring the openly gay rapper.
“This not over no bet award, this is about the bigger problem of homophobia in the black community, y’all can sit and pretend all u want but imma risk it all for us,” he said in a separate tweet.
After one Twitter user brought up his Grammy win, Lil Nas added, “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?”
Later that day, BET issued a statement in response to Lil Nas’s tweets, claiming the nominations were not decided by anyone within the network.
“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,” the network wrote. “Unfortunately, this year, he was not nominated by BET’s Voting Academy … 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.”
The network went on to say its voting academy is made up of “nearly 500 entertainment professionals in the fields of music, television, film, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, influencers, and creative arts.”
In a since-deleted tweet, Lil Nas reiterated his point about the snub highlighting a larger issue within the music industry saying, “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.”
