Usher was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 BET Awards, but his acceptance speech was heavily censored. During his speech, the Atlanta superstar acknowledged many people, including Johnta Austin, his wife Jennifer Goicoechea, his children, LeBron James, and Bronny James.
However, the majority of his speech was muted due to a single profanity, leaving viewers unable to hear most of his remarks.
Social media users quickly reacted to the excessive censorship. One user shared a gif of Pharrell pressing a red button aggressively on The Voice, captioning it "The censor person in the back during Usher’s speech." Another user used a gif of Bow Wow playing the air piano during his 2021 Verzuz, with a similar caption.
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Fans expressed their frustration, demanding BET release the unedited speech. "Are they gonna upload Usher’s unedited speech on BET+ or something, because this consistent muting is ridiculous?" one user asked. Another commented, "It’s the silent acceptance speech for the viewers at home for me. Just go to commercial. Congratulations, Usher! Sh*t."
One fan humorously referenced the Source Awards, writing, "Usher cussing up a storm up there like it’s the Source Awards. BET took away my audio; can’t even hear the speech," followed by several laughing emojis. Despite the humor, fans were clearly disappointed they couldn't hear Usher's full speech.
This incident followed a tribute performance by Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Victoria Monet, Chlöe, Coco Jones, Tinashe, Latto, and Marsha Ambrosius. They performed hits like "U Don’t Have To Call," "Bad Girl," "Good Kisser," "There Goes My Baby," "Superstar," and "Yeah!" While Usher appeared to be in good spirits, many fans were dissatisfied with the tribute.
Earlier in the evening, Usher did manage to deliver an uninterrupted speech when he received the award for Best Male R&B/Pop Artist.
