Jack Harlow wore a Lil Nas X t-shirt to the BET Awards on Sunday (26 June) to protest his fellow rapper’s awards snub.
The 24-year-old rapper, who collaborated with Nas X on his hit song “Industry Baby,” supported his friend who has expressed his frustrations with BET over his lack of nominations this year.
In response to Harlow’s gesture, Lil Nas X tweeted: “Wow I really love this man.”
Lil Nas X was not among the list of BET Award nominees when the list was announced on 1 June. With the organisation’s acronym standing for Black Entertainment Television, the ceremony mostly highlights Black artists across several genres.
The “Old Town Road” singer, along with many fans online, was surprised at his lack of inclusion in this year’s ceremony.
“Thank you BET awards. An outstanding zero nominations again. Black excellence!” he tweeted in response, before eventually deleting his message.
Lil Nas X’s debut album, Montero, was a popular and critically acclaimed release in 2021, spurning singles such as “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and “Industry Baby”.
This month, Lil Nas X also released a new track expressing his feelings toward BET, in which he repeats the phrase “F*** BET”.
The song is titled “Late To Da Party”, and features rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
Along with this, he explained that his feelings of discontent were not about the awards themselves, but more about his exclusion being an example of homophobia in the Black community.
“This not over no BET award,” he wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Soon after Lil Nas X’s tweets, BET issued an official statement, saying: “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.
“Unfortunately, this year, he was not nominated by BET’s Voting Academy, which is comprised of an esteemed group of nearly 500 entertainment professionals in the fields of music, television, film, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, influencers, and creative arts.”
