The BET awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television. These awards were created to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in the entertainment industry. This years ceremony date took place on June 26th at 5:00pm. Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar opened the award show with a surprise performance. Queen Bey and King Kendrick collaborated and performed a rendition of “Freedom” at the Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater. The stage was flooded with a pool of water and Beyoncé splashed and marched her way across the platform while Kendrick rose from under the stage. The show was a powerful politically charged performance.
“Freedom, freedom! Where are you? ‘Cause I need freedom too,” she chanted. “I break chains all by myself / Won’t let my freedom rot in hell / Imma keep running ‘cause a winner don’t quit on themselves.”
However, this performance was not the only one making headlines. Jesse Williams, an actor and activist, gave one of the most profound awards ceremony speeches ever delivered. In the speech, he addressed police brutality and cultural appropriation. In response to the speech, Justin Timberlake tweeted “@iJesseWilliams tho… #Inspired #BET2016.” He felt the tweet itself was harmless, but with his 55 million Twitter followers, black folks were upset. People were offended by the context of the tweet because many of them actually believe he is a contender to the exact cultural appropriation that Jesse was referring to. One of Timberlake’s followers, Ernest Owens, responded to his tweet saying “So does this mean you’re going to stop appropriating our music and culture? And apologize to Janet too. #BETAwards.” Justine replied saying “Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation. Bye.” Justin later apologized for the misunderstanding of his tweet, but it seems as though he failed to understand his place in the moment.
Moreover, also in response to Williams' powerful speech, Shonda Rhimes, a television producer and writer and the creator of Grey's Anatomy, started a petition to have him removed from Grey's Anatomy. She stated that "Jesse Williams spewed a racist, hate speech against law enforcement and white people at the BET awards. Rhimes signed the petition claiming, "If this was a white person making the same speech about an African-American, they would have been fired and globally chastised, as they should be, but there has been no consequences to Williams' actions." The actor does not seem worried by the petition as he responded to the call for his firing by tweeting, "Do not promote empty people & their tantrums. Pure clickbait to gain followers, attention, & money, for themselves, not you. Never you."
