BET has issued an apology to Usher after a large portion of his acceptance speech at the BET Awards was muted during the live broadcast. The singer was receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, following a tribute performance by Childish Gambino, Victoria Monét, Coco Jones, and others.
Usher began his 13-minute speech by saying he had not prepared any words but that he 'likes to talk.' As he started swearing, the audio cut out for nearly four minutes. BET attributed the issue to an 'audio malfunction' in a statement to Billboard, saying: 'Due to an audio malfunction during the LIVE telecast, portions of his speech were inadvertently muted. We extend our sincere apologies to Usher.'
Social media speculation that the muting was due to comments about Sean 'Diddy' Combs was quickly debunked by attendees and an uncensored clip posted on BET's YouTube channel. The award was presented by Antonio 'L.A.' Reid and Babyface, co-founders of LaFace Records, with Usher joined on stage by mentor Jermaine Dupri.
BET will rebroadcast the ceremony tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
