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Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Saturday, July 4, 2009 08:00:00


BET has reportedly responded to last weekend's controversial Lil Wayne and Drake performance and claimed various aspects of their set was unplanned.
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The network has released a statement which addressed Wayne's entire Young Money crew.

"BET Networks deeply regrets the performance by Young Money at the BET AWARDS '09 (featuring Lil Wayne, Drake, Gudda Gudda and Mack Maine)," a BET rep said in a statement. "Elements of the performance were unplanned and should not have happened." (All Hip Hop)

Drake also explained his regret for the performance's overall turn-out.

"That, actually -- to be honest -- was a terrible idea that I'll never do to myself again," he said in an interview. "But I was being pressed from different areas to perform, and I think what really happened at the BET Awards is with the passing of [Michael Jackson], the climate really changed, as far as the award show goes. I don't think it called for us to perform "Every Girl" and "Always Strapped," and I think it was an award show filled with tributes and music and these genuine heartfelt speeches. And to sort of climax out of a very tongue-n-cheek point, and then people misconstruing Wayne's daughters and her friends coming out on stage -- it was just timed very poorly and it definitely wasn't planned like that, but with that being said, it is what is. I believe in Wayne and myself and it's nothing we can't bounce back from. To anyone who was offended, my personal apologies, it wasn't intended to offend anybody." (Complex)

Sources close to Weezy's camp also weighed in on what allegedly went down with the appearance of pre-teen girls on-stage.

According to my source, what happened was Wayne's daughter Reginae, 9, was upset that she didn't get the chance to accompany her father, Lil Wayne, to the stage to accept his award because she was sitting too far back in the audience. Once backstage, the youngster began to cry. And Wayne, who they say is a great dad, hated to see his little girl cry. So he told Reginae she could come out onstage during his performance with Drake. Reginae, being the team player that she is, asked the other members of her group to go out on stage with her. (Sandra Rose)

Award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt expressed his discontent with the set and inked an open letter to BET President Debra Lee.

"Show executives watched, approved, and applauded as artists Lil Wayne, Drake, and Cash Money brought young, under-aged girls onto the stage to dance and serve as window dressing while they performed 'Every Girl,' a song that reduces girls and women to sex objects," he wrote. "In a culture where one out of four girls and women are either raped or sexually assaulted - and where manipulative men routinely traffic vulnerable women into the sex industry - it is not okay that BET allowed this to happen. BET owes its entire audience - particularly girls and women around the world - an apology for its failure to intervene." (The Urban Daily)