Usher’s Uncensored BET Lifetime Achievement Award Speech: Watch
BET’s decision to censor much of Usher‘s 2024 BET Lifetime Achievement Award speech resulted in confusion for the masses, as the network attempted to mute curse words coming from the crooner and ended up silencing over half of his address.
“Are they gonna upload Usher’s unedited speech on BET+ or something, because this consistent muting is ridiculous,” reacted one fan on X/Twitter, with another adding, “It’s the silent acceptance speech for the viewers at home for me. Just go to commercial. Congratulations, Usher! Sh*t!”
Before being muted, Usher was able to thank wife Jennifer Goicoechea and mentors like Johnta Austin, L.A. Reid, and Babyface before launching into the importance of fatherhood and his own abandonment issues. He also dropped a few f-bombs, resulting in BET muting his mic, but also, in fans missing out on much of the singer’s heartfelt message.
“I’m sorry I’m cursing, this is how I really feel,” he told the crowd. “‘Cause at one point it got really thick, and motherf**kers wasn’t f**king with me. I get it, I understand, sometimes you gotta go through some sh*t to get to something.”
Pointing to the men on stage who heavily influenced his career, he continued, “They solid, and it ain’t about a motherf**king hit record. They solid, and they gon’ always have my back and I will always have there’s.”
Usher accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award onstage at the the 2024 BET Awards at Peacock Theater on June 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
Check out the full, uncensored speech below.
The speech came after a nothing less than a questionable tribute to the Atlanta legend, featuring performances from Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Summer Walker, Marsha Ambrosius, Tinashe, Latto and more. While Chloé, Teyana Taylor, Victoria Monét and Coco Jones were praised for their contributions, the tribute was largely panned on social media.
“I should not be laughing at an Usher tribute. Someone at BET deserves jail time for this,” wrote one observer on Twitter/X, with another adding, “we should’ve just let Usher perform his own tribute, chile.”
Others noted that Gambino was the only male voice heard during the tribute, writing, “Usher’s tribute is filled with women because this new generation of male singers cannot sing nor perform.” Another fan offered, “Still stuck on the fact that Chris Brown, Lloyd, Mario, Tank, Luke James, Neyo, Avant, Avery Wilson or any other talented Male R&b singers just weren’t even a thought for this Usher tribute.”
Check it out below.
