BET Awards

Overview

The BET Awards is an annual award show by the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network, which recognizes notable African Americans and other minorities for contributions in a variety of fields, including music, acting and sports. In 2006, the BET Hip Hop Awards show was created as a separate ceremony celebrating hip hop performers, producers and music video directors.

Background

On June 19th, 2001, the first BET Awards show was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. That year, the “Video of the Year” award was given to “Ms. Jackson” by the hip hop group OutKast.

Notable Developments

2002-2006

From 2002 to 2005, the BET Awards were held in June at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California. In 2006, the ceremony was moved to the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

BET Hip Hop Awards

On November 12th, 2006, the first BET Hip Hop Awards ceremony was hosted by comedian Katt Williams and held at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. The show was created as a separate ceremony to celebrate notable hip hop artists, performers and video creators

2012 BET Awards

On July 1st, 2012, the BET Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. During the ceremony, rap artists Jay-Z and Kanye West were called to the stage to receive the “Video of the Year” award for “Otis” off their 2011 collaborative album Watch the Throne. During the acceptance speech, Jay-Z handed over the microphone to Kanye West and then interrupted him speech by saying “Kanye, Imma let you continue, but…”

2013 BET Hip Hop Awards

Miley Cyrus Pregnancy Rumor

In September 2013, a rumor began circulating online that Miley Cyrus had announced she was pregnant at that year’s BET Awards. Cyrus dismissed the rumor on Twitter, while many noted that the award ceremony would not be held until the following month.

Rick Ross’ 2013 BET Awards Outfit

On October 15th, 2013, rapper Rick Ross performed with rapper Future and DJ Khaled at the BET Hip Hop Awards show wearing a blue velor suit without a shirt underneath. Following the performance, many Twitter users posted jokes about the outfit along with images of various blue-colored characters and objects.

2015 BET Hip Hop Awards

On June 28th, 2015, the BET Awards were held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. At the ceremony Rihanna was filmed throwing a handful of dollar bills in the face of a BET executive (shown below). Following the event, many speculated the incident was a promotional stunt.

During the performance of singer Tamar Braxton, Twitter^[1] user Goldie Taylor posted a screen captured image of Braxton appearing nonplussed, along with the caption “When you boss says you gotta take that 4th of July shift” (shown below). In the first 24 hours, the tweet received over 500 retweets and 250 favorites. Other Twitter users subsequently began using the photo as a reaction image accompanied by various humorous captions.^[2]

When Nicki Minaj received her “Best Female Hip-Hop Artist” award, she revealed that she did not know what the award was for since she had been “in the back.”

Search Interest

External References