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BET Awards Apologizes to Usher Over ‘Audio Malfunction’ That Muted Parts of His Speech

BET has apologized to Usher, saying that his lifetime achievement speech was "inadvertently muted" due to an audio malfunction at the 2024 awards.

“Due to an audio malfunction during the LIVE telecast, portions of his speech were inadvertently muted,” a spokesperson for the company told Billboard via statement. The technical difficulties came just after he thanked Terry Lewis, Babyface, L.A. Reid and Jimmy Jam for being “the men who motivated me, who speak to me, who have spoken to me, who have been solid no matter how f–ked up it may have been.” That’s when the sound dropped out completely, cutting in and out for the next four minutes and causing some to wonder about the content of his speech; however, a Billboard reporter inside the awards show confirmed that Usher barely swore throughout his time on stage and that his remarks didn’t contain any salacious subject matter.

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