Lil Nas X calls out 2022 BET Awards for snubbing him again

A man in yellow fringe and a cowboy hat performs onstage

June 1, 2022 Updated 12:50 PM PT

Rap sensation Doja Cat emerged Wednesday as the top nominee at this year’s BET Awards. The “Woman” hitmaker is nominated in six categories, including album of the year for her third studio record, “Planet Her.”

Rounding out Doja Cat’s nominations are female R&B/pop artist, female hip-hop artist, BET Her (“Woman”), best collaboration (“Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA) and video of the year (“Kiss Me More”). Trailing Doja Cat with four nominations apiece are rapper Drake and R&B singer Ari Lennox, BET announced Wednesday.

Missing from the list, however, is Lil Nas X, who scored no BET nominations for the second consecutive year; he was up for best new artist — but lost — in 2020. His wildly popular debut album, “Montero,” was nominated for five Grammy Awards this year.

True to form, the genre-defying superstar called out BET for the snub Wednesday, tweeting, “thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again. black excellence!”

When a Twitter troll accused Lil Nas X of using his gay identity as an “excuse” to criticize the BET Awards and questioned what music he’s “put out” recently, the “Thats What I Want” hitmaker fired back: “idk maybe 3 of the biggest songs of last year & a critically acclaimed album ... i feel like that should’ve helped me a bit.”

“doesn’t even have to be me nominated,” he added in a follow-up tweet. “i just feel like black gay ppl have to fight to be seen in this world and even when we make it to the top mfs try to pretend we are invisible.”

In response to another commenter who argued that he shouldn’t be eligible because he is a “pop artist” and the “BET HIP HOP Awards are for BET HIP HOP/Rap and R&B artists,” Lil Nas X wrote, “no offense but u are literally of caucasian persuasion and trying to school me on an award show i’ve watched my entire childhood + it’s not the hip hop awards + they have a pop category.” (The BET Hip Hop Awards are distributed at a separate ceremony also hosted by the network.)

The rapper and singer has since deleted all of his tweets about the BET Award nominations. Representatives for BET did not immediately respond Wednesday to The Times’ request for comment.

Drake is nominated for male hip-hop artist, collaboration (“Way 2 Sexy,” featuring Future and Young Thug), video of the year (“Way 2 Sexy”) and album of the year (“Certified Lover Boy”), while Lennox is up for female R&B/pop artist, video of the year (“Pressure”) and BET Her (“Pressure” and “Unloyal”).

Other artists who received multiple nominations on Wednesday include Baby Keem, Chlöe, Future, H.E.R., Jazmine Sullivan, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Mary J. Blige, Tems and Silk Sonic’s Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak.

BET also has recognized a number of athletes and actors whose work has the power to effect change while showcasing the “best, brightest, and most beautiful aspects of the Black experience.”

Among the film and TV nominees are Zendaya (“Euphoria,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home”), Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”), Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”), Issa Rae (“Insecure”), Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”), Queen Latifah (“The Equalizer”), Regina King (“The Harder They Fall”) and Will Smith (“King Richard”).

The 2022 BET Awards, hosted by actor Taraji P. Henson, will be broadcast on BET on June 26 at 8 p.m. Pacific from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Here’s the full list of nominees.