After days of discourse about a #BETAwards moment between her and a TikToker, Taraji P. Henson is weighing in.
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During one segment at the 2024 BET Awards on Sunday, host Henson walked around the audience to give certain stars their flowers, handing out roses to celebrate the pre-selected celebs.
One personality who was meant to get his flowers, TikToker Keith Lee, didn’t exactly get the moment he expected when Taraji confused him for influencer Jordan Howlett. As the actress spoke to Howlett, he laughed and pointed to Lee in a seriously uncomfortable moment, causing Henson to say, “I’m so sorry!” and that she “got caught up in her own inner monologue.”
Lee went on to accept the rose after the mishap, but later posted a now-deleted TikTok where he dropped it on the floor.
“Our name will be known in every room it’s supposed to be, when it’s supposed to be, how it’s supposed, with no confusion,” Keith wrote in his TikTok caption.”God is amazing.”
Soon thereafter, he posted a follow-up video, insisting The Color Purple star was not the reason for his anger.
“I am not upset at Taraji P. Henson by any stretch of the imagination,” he said in another video on Monday. “And not only that, in my opinion, she smoked it last night.”
He continued, “The reason I did this had nothing to do with Taraji P. Henson. The reason I did this is that I wholeheartedly believe it wasn’t my rose, it wasn’t my moment. It was given to me, but it wasn’t mine. I always say, I don’t want nothing that wasn’t mine. I am forever thankful for every room that I’m in. I was more than thankful and more than grateful to just sit there and enjoy the show.”
Lee went on to blame the show’s producers for the upsetting moment, but Henson still wasn’t having it.
Prior to Keith’s explanation, Taraji addressed his rose-throwing video in an Instagram comment, where she implied that the TikToker was simply upset because he missed his 15 minutes of mainstream fame.
“Life really is too short for this behavior,” she began. “He wasn’t in his seat. They give celebrity assigned seats! I rehearsed all damn day to go hit my mark and that young man wasn’t in his seat so HE MISSED HIS MOMENT!”
Henson went on to write, “His ego is hurt. He will be fine. I cleaned it up at the end of the show. No love lost here. #GODBLESS.”
Hopefully, Lee’s follow-up video made it clear that there’s no beef between him and Henson.