Every awards show has its controversies. Although most BET Award controversies involve feuding emcees or performance fails, this time around the controversy surrounded up-and-coming blogger B. Scott, who was forced to change his outfit by BET before hosting the red carpet pre-show at the 2013 BET Awards.
As fans of B. Scott already know, Scott is openly gay and is known for his extraordinary androgynous style.
However, BET must have missed the memo on Scott’s fashion because, according to Scott, BET refused to allow him to wear heels on camera. Scott, who was initially excited for his first BET Awards hosting gig, was noticeably down when he appeared on camera for the pre-show. Afterwards, Scott took to Twitter to reveal that his sullen attitude was caused by BET forcing him to change his outfit.
“Only God knows what I went through today and it’s going to stay that way,” tweeted Scott.
“let me just say this…” he added, along with an emotional Instagram video
Scott later confirmed the rumors to fellow blogger Miss Jia and explained that he was hurt that BET made him tone down his androgynous look.
“I wasn’t going to say anything but my spirit is truly hurt,” tweeted Scott, adding, “I’m sorry if I let anybody down today, I tried my best and it wasn’t enough.”
Scott also thanked K. Michelle, Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe and his good friend, Mariah Carey, for consoling him during the show.
BET has yet to release a statement about their reasons for making Scott change his look but the incident is, understandably, coming off as homophobic and effemiphobic. Scott is an androgynous, gay man whose style has inspired fans for years. He represents a segment of BET’s fan base that no doubt would have loved to see Scott looking and feeling proud as he represented his true self, androgynous style and all. It’s a shame that BET, who touts there awards show as an event where “anything can happen,” decided to stifle Scott.
Fans weren’t the only ones angered by the controversy. Check out what some other celebs and bloggers had to say about the incident below. – nicholas robinson
