Lil Nas X has claimed his experience with the BET Awards has been “painful”.
The Industry Baby rapper spoke to Rolling Stone on Sunday about his BET Awards diss track Late to da Party, which he released in response to the organisation failing to give him any awards nominations for the second year in a row.
“My relationship with BET has been painful and strained for quite some time,” Nas explained. “It didn’t start with this year’s nominations like most people might think.”
In the song, Nas repeatedly chants “F**k BET” and the music video shows him crashing the awards, which took place on Sunday, and repeating the chant on the stage. The single’s artwork shows him urinating on a BET Award which has been thrown down the toilet.
Nas also claimed that BET executives were reluctant to book him to perform at the 2021 awards show as they had concerns over his Montero (Call Me By Your Name) music video, in which he controversially gives the devil a lap dance.
“They did let me perform on their show last year, but only after (I gave) assurances that I was not a satanist or devil worshipper, and that my performance would be appropriate for their audience,” he said.
In response, a spokesperson for BET told Rolling Stone that the singer’s recollection of the 2021 show “is simply untrue”.
They continued, “Since last year’s performance, we have been in touch to work on other projects. 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.”
Although Nas didn’t go to the 2022 BET Awards on Sunday, his Industry Baby collaborator Jack Harlow attended wearing a Nas shirt on the red carpet in support.
