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?

Bitch Bad: Hip hop and the B word.

Have you guys seen Lupe Fiasco’s newest video, B**** Bad? Released 3 weeks ago and watched over a million times already, it’s also nominated for a BET Award in a new category – Impact Awards. The song challenges the use of the B word in hip hop. There’s been a lot of talk recently about the B word and the way women are portrayed in hip hop, with Kanye West and Steve Harvey both getting into the conversation, just to name a few examples.

But this video gets into other topics too, such as the mixed messages that kids get from the media and their parents. I really like that he looks at both sides of his argument. He acknowledges how hard it can be to protect your kids from mass media. But he also calls out those parents who expose their kids to dangerous messages without recognizing how it affects their kids.

And the way blackface is used in the video really brings his whole point home and calls out the industry for its lack of authenticity. Not only is Lupe reminding us that artists are playing into a role, but he also asks artists to take a look at the roles they are playing. By the end of the video, the characters seem to realize that they've been playing a role and decide not to play along anymore.

B**** Bad asks hip hop artists and fans to question a number of things about the music that is being created these days and the video uses some really interesting story telling techniques that you don’t see often in rap videos. But, some people are saying the video is irrelevant. What do you think – does it deserve the attention (and the award)?

Check out the video and let me know what you think.