THE BET Awards has delivered its fair share of crazy moments over its 24-year run.
Established in 2001, the award show was the setting for Beyoncé and Jay Z’s relationship reveal, Cardi B’s on-stage lap dance, and Chris Brown’s emotional Michael Jackson tribute.
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The 2024 award show is scheduled to air on Sunday, June 30 at 8 pm on BET.
Before watching a broadcast that promises to be full of surprises, here are five of the most entertaining moments from the BET Awards of years prior.
CARDI B LAP DANCE
Cardi B, 31, set the stage on fire when she opened the 2019 BET Awards with a raunchy performance of her hit single Press.
The Bodak Yellow rapper was joined on stage by her husband, Offset.
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The Migos rapper sat in a chair while Cardi, who sported a sexy, green cut-out body suit, rubbed her body against his.
She grinded against the Ric Flair Drip rapper’s lap in front of a cheering audience as lines of backup dancers performed choreographed moves on either side of the pair.
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JAY AND BEY GO PUBLIC
A couple of years after confirming the rumors of their romance, Beyoncé officially went public with her then-future husband, Jay Z, during a collaborative performance of her single, Déjà Vu, at the 2006 BET Awards.
Beyoncé, 42, donned a shimmering silver crop top and mini-skirt as she bounced around the stage while belting out the lyrics.
Jay, 54, wore an all-black outfit as he rapped his verse while the Crazy in Love singer danced around her man.
Nearly 20 years later, Beyoncé’s performance is still receiving praise from fans.
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In the comment section of a YouTube video of the award show moment, one person wrote, “This is seriously so iconic. One of my favorite Beyoncé moments of all time.”
“She ate this up BADDDDDDDD!” added another.
“This is the performance that made me realize she was truly something special. I was completely sold on Beyoncé after this lol completely blown away in [the] summer of 2006,” commented a third.
TOUCHING TRIBUTE
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At the 2010 BET Awards singer Chris Brown, 35, performed a powerful tribute to Michael Jackson just days after the latter’s shocking death.
The award show, the tenth in the ceremony’s history, aired on BET on June 27, 2010 – just two days after Michael had died.
With emotions still running high, Chris performed a medley of the icon’s music while dressed like the King of Pop.
He began the tribute with a rendition of The Way You Make Me Feel before moving on to a dance-heavy performance of Remember the Time.
Chris got the crowd riled up with his unique, silhouette-style performance of Smooth Criminal before going full Mike during the Billie Jean segment.
The New Flame singer choked up while attempting to sing The Man in the Mirror.
Whether thinking about his past mistakes – the award show occurred just a year after his controversial assault against Rihanna in 2009 – or just being fully overwhelmed by the passing of his idol, the emotional performance ended with Chris in tears.
FEELING THANKFUL
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At the 2003 BET Awards, 50 Cent, 48, was sure to let viewers know what he was really thankful for during an acceptance speech.
While receiving the award for Best New Artist, 50 Cent thanked all his fans who supported him and bought his album Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and many others.
The In da Club rapper even joked, “Now I’m going to be honest with y’all, man, I wanna thank me,” as the admiring audience cheered.
He briefly got a bit more sincere as he continued, “I’m enjoying myself. This is a big change in my life. I’m just happy to be present with all of these beautiful people in here.”
50 Cent then eyed one of those beautiful audience members and added, “I wanna thank Vivica Fox for wearing that dress too,” much to the actor’s surprise and delight.
CONFUSED WINNER
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Nicki Minaj, 41, gave fans another memorable acceptance speech while receiving the award for Viewers’ Choice during the 2015 show.
A visibly flustered Nicki stepped up the mic and told the excited crowd, “Thank you. I definitely didn’t expect this,” while adjusting her hair.
“I wanna thank BET once again for always supporting me and, um, I wanna thank you guys for the support on the Pink Print,” the Chun-Li rapper continued, referencing her latest album at the time.
Nicki paused, seemingly knowing the jig was up, and smiling to herself asked, “What was this award for? I’m sorry.”
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The 2024 BET Awards take place June 30 at 8pm. Here are the artists viewer can expect to watch perform during the stara-studded show.
Taraji P. Henson will return to host the ceremony – live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
The audience responded by telling her she won the award for Viewers’ Choice.
Up to speed, Nicki announced, “Oh! Viewers’ choice, oh my God y’all, thank you!” as the audience and presenters laughed.
The rapper later explained the flub to ET, admitting, “I was on my way to go because I had to go… somewhere.
“So I was trying to get my stuff all together and they were like, ‘No, you gotta go. You’re winning an award.'”
Nicki continued, “And then I had to go up there and I was all frazzled and crazy looking on stage but hey, you know, live TV.”
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