Last weekend, the 2021 BET Awards took place in person in Los Angeles following the virtual formatting of last year’s show due to COVID-19 restrictions. Big names in music like Tyler, the Creator, Migos–with a special guest and surprise reveal from Cardi B, H.E.R., and more all hit the stage to perform their latest material.
One of the most memorable moments came from Lil Nas X’s performance of his hit single “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name),” which drew criticism early on in its rollout days due to its LGBTQ+ friendly devil-filled visuals. For his BET Awards performance, he ended it by planting a kiss on one of his male backup dancers, sparking intense criticism on social media. Surprisingly, however, the criticism stayed online for the “Old Town Road” artist.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BET
According to TMZ, it was crickets in terms of complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about the performance. As the publication reports, the obtained complaints filed to the commission total just three. One viewer from the Bronx, NY penned around 1am to the commission, “I was very disturbed to see 2 men practically having sexual in the stage when the awards show is supposed to be a family show. It’s ridiculous and children and adults are being forced to endure this. Unacceptable and I will be unsubscribing from BET network. DISGUSTING AND DISTURBING!!!!!!!!”
A second angered viewer wrote, “During a performance 2 gay men kissed. Why are you showing this on tv. It is disgusting and wrong for kids to see because it’s unnatural.” The third complaint came from someone in Philly, who complained more about Satanism than the queer-friendly content of the performance.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BET
In comparison, Cardi B and Megan thee Stallion’s Grammy performance of “WAP” and Shakira and J. Lo’s Super Bowl Halftime show each saw more than 1,000 FCC complaints. The relatively low number of FCC complaints juxtaposes the online backlash Lil Nas received following the performance.
Nonetheless, the hitmaker has taken it all in stride.
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