Wednesday, July 3

I Don't Like this Situation With B.Scott and BET


I am not impressed with BET's actions this past weekend at the BET Awards involving popular blogger B.Scott. If you haven't heard about the situation as yet, the Cole's notes are that B. Scott was invited to attend the awards as a red carpet correspondent. But, once the carpet festivities were underway, he was pulled from his duties and asked to change out of the heels and clothes that he was wearing as well as pull back his hair into a ponytail. When he complied to this request, he was eventually replaced by another correspondent.

See, the problem that I have with this more so than BET's decision to restrict the clothes that he chose to wear is that they knew exactly what they would be getting when they invited him to take part in the festivities. B. Scott is known for his beautifully made up face and long flowing hair. His brand is "glamour". So knowing his brand and what he is about, it is confusing to me that BET would even invite B.Scott if they were not willing to accept his style of dress. I understand that there are such things as dress codes when you are working with an employer and representing them publicly, but perhaps this should have been a conversation had before hand?

Afterwards, B.Scott wrote a letter to speak out about his experience. Read his statement below as well as BET's statement.

A part of B. Scott's letter:
“It’s not just about the fact that BET forced me to pull my hair back, asked me to take off my makeup, made me changed my clothes and prevented me from wearing a heel. It’s more so that from the mentality and environment created by BET made me feel less than and that something was wrong with who I am as a person.”

BET's statement:
“BET Networks embraces global diversity in all its forms and seeks to maintain an inclusive workforce and a culture that values all perspectives and backgrounds,” the statement read. “The incident with B. Scott was a singular one with a series of unfortunate miscommunications from both parties. We regret any unintentional offense to B. Scott and anyone within the LGBT community and we seek to continue embracing all gender expressions.”
What are your thoughts on the whole dress code situation between BET and B.Scott? Is BET justified and restricting the style on the red carpet?

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