Perhaps the most controversial second from Sunday night’s BET Awards came — against all odds — right through the In Memoriam phase.
The somber second of reflection during the June 30 broadcast, which venerated entertainers whose lives have been lost in the final calendar year, surprised viewers with the inclusion of O.J. Simpson.
When Simpson’s face used to be proven, attendees on the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles fell right into a “noticeable silence,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Shortly after, alternatively, there used to be reportedly a “smattering of applause,” with one attendee saying there were “some titters a number of the crowd.”
Actress Tia Mowry offered the segment as a tribute to “the Black excellence that we unfortunately lost this 12 months.”
“It’s by no means simple to mention good-bye to people who affect us,” Mowry, 45, said, “but we can take a moment to celebrate and acknowledge their contributions to the culture.”
Described as a “former NFL participant” on the broadcast, Simpson died of prostate most cancers in April on the age of 76.
Simpson was infamously accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, resulting in 1995’s Trial of the Century. Simpson was ultimately acquitted but later discovered accountable for each deaths in a 1997 civil trial.
The inclusion of Simpson drew the ire of Goldman’s father Fred Goldman, who told TMZ, “I believe they shouldn’t come with any individual of that caliber — a wife beater, murderer … can’t consider why they would come with any person like that.”
It used to be a similar sentiment shared by Tanya Brown, the youngest sister of Nicole. “Whoever considered doing that owes each and every domestic violence sufferer an apology,” Tanya instructed TMZ, “and that’s together with our circle of relatives. And, they should be fired.”
Simpson used to be also a star football participant at USC and with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, later transitioning to a a hit performing occupation in motion pictures and television. Most particularly, Simpson performed Detective Nordberg in the Naked Gun movie franchise.
The In Memoriam phase additionally paid tribute to past due public figures like Carl Weathers, Richard Roundtree, Ron Cephas Jones, Louis Gossett Jr., civil rights activist Dexter Scott King and baseball participant Willie Mays.
After Simpson’s face used to be splashed across TV displays, those observing at house had a box day on social media.
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“lol OJ Simpson in memoriam for the rest is WILD regardless of the way you slice it,” one viewer wrote via X. Another shared, “Ngl.. I just about modified the channel once OJ Simpson popped up on the display screen all the way through that in memoriam at the Bet Awards 2024. Like no…. He will have to had been excluded.”
Not everyone was throwing colour BET’s method, however.
After the segment, one X user wrote, “Shout out to BET for no longer being afraid to position OJ Simpson in the remainder in peace tribute 😂😂😂.”
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