BET Awards

Some folks were upset Cardi B won Album of the Year at the BET Awards -- but not Mary J. Blige ... whose opinion MIGHT just matter more than yours.

The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul was leaving TAO Sunday night in Hollywood after the jam-packed show -- in which Mary herself received a Lifetime Achievement award -- and she told us how she felt about CB getting the big prize over the other nominated artists.

Check it out -- Mary's got nothin' but love for Cardi, whom she thinks "deserved that s***!" ... no questions asked. Some peeps thought Meek Mill, Travis Scott or Ella Mai were more worthy, but Mary wasn't hearing it. It's clear ... Cardi's got her heart.

We also had to congratulate MJB on the big award she walked away with -- for which she did her OWN damn tribute, alongside Lil' Kim and others. It was absolutely epic, and if Cardi deserved AOTY ... Mary absolutely deserved a lifetime achievement.

BET pulled out all the stops for Nipsey Hussle at its annual award show ... and the emotion onstage and in the crowd was palpable.

In a powerful moment, Hussle's family took the stage to a standing ovation, including the late rapper's girlfriend, Lauren London, and his son, Kross Asghedom, to accept the 2019 Humanitarian Award on his behalf.

"I just want to thank you guys for all of the love and support and the marathon continues again," London said briefly.

"I was so amazed that so much love was out in the world that it uplifted me," said Hussle's grandmother. "God said to Nipsey, 'You've done your job, you've made your mark.' So thank you so much world for loving him, too.' His parents also spoke briefly of their son.

The slain South L.A. MC was presented with a special tribute Sunday night during the BET Awards --where T.I. spoke some kind words about the hip-hop icon, recounting the impact he had on the community as a whole.

"There will never be another Nipsey Hussle; he was a revolutionary," T.I. said. "He was our blessing and inspired people across the world.

The powerful moment led into a musical tribute to Hussle, with performances by Marsha Ambrosius on "Real Big," YG on "Last Time I Checc'd" and DJ Khaled and John Legend leading everyone in white for an emotional performance of "Higher."

They also played a video tribute to Nipsey's life with words from Snoop Dogg, Ava DuVernay and Los Angeles Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson ... it included footage from the last video Hussle shot before his death.

Nipsey was a driving force in his community ... inspiring people to make South L.A. better by both words and deeds.

TMZ broke the story ... Nipsey was gunned down in March outside of his Marathon clothing store in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles.

Nipsey left behind two children -- 10-year-old Emani, and 2-year-old Kross, the latter whom he shared with Lauren London.

He was 33 at the time of his death.

The 2019 BET Awards saw hip-hop legends hanging out with newcomers, movie stars mingling with TV counterparts and everyone was having a good time … showing off their bold styles, fierce swag and lots and lots of cell phones.

Some of the big stars who kept their phones close by ... La La Anthony, O.T. Genasis, DJ Mustard, Bobby Lytes, Lil Nas X and DJ Khaled -- The latter also took part in a touching tribute to Nipsey Hussle alongside YG, John Legend and Marsha Ambrosius.

Other stars taking in the festivities were 2 Chainz, Rihanna, Cardi B, Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Lil Nas’ collabo partner Billy Ray Cyrus … along with lots of other fab faces.

The 7th Annual BET Experience Saturday night did not disappoint ... not by a long shot.

The big event celebrating BET Weekend in L.A. went down at Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and featured the likes of Cardi B, Migos, G-Eazy, Yung Miami, Lil Yachty, Lil Baby, and Trippie Redd.

Staples was also where Meek Mill and YG performed Friday night, with a tribute to Nipsey Hussle.

The concerts are all a lead-up to Sunday night's 19th Annual BET Awards, which will go down at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater. Cardi leads the nominations with 7, followed by Drake with 5.

Billy Ray Cyrus took a break from basking in the glory of his collab with Lil Nas X to give one of his heroes a major shout out ... Stevie Wonder!!!

We got Billy Ray at LAX and he couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear after Billboard announced this week Nas and Billy's massive hit, "Old Town Road," is topping the Hot 100 for the 11th straight week.

But, check out the clip ... our guy asks if Billy's now gonna make the crossover to rap after Nas forged his way into country. Billy -- who is in town to perform with Nas Sunday night at the BET Awards -- gave us a safe answer, but he segued outta that convo ... telling us what his daughter, Noah, got him for Father's Day -- a Stevie Wonder album.

Billy, who said the album's the best Father's Day present ever, couldn't help but shower the legendary singer for being a massive influence in his career. Watch, just for a nanosecond Billy gives "Superstition" a shot.

Also, we think he tipped his hand on what he and Lil Nas X have planned for the BET Awards this weekend.

2:20 PM PT -- BET is making it clear the tweet targeting Nicki was unauthorized. The network says, “BET loves Nicki Minaj. We have supported her from the very beginning of her career and will continue to do so moving forward. Nicki has paved the way for so many performers and has solidified her place as one of the most powerful figures in the music industry."

The statement continues ... "Unfortunately the respect we have for Nicki was violated by this post that should never have been written. The post does not reflect how we feel about Nicki. And further does not reflect our company values. We deeply apologize for the hurt, disappointment and confusion that this post has caused. We are committed to doing everything we can to address the situation."

BET also says, "We are also conducting an internal audit to assure these types of posts are not published again. We have apologized to Nicki and her team. The post has been removed and we have taken additional appropriate action. We understand Nicki’s position and look forward to continuing our dialogue with her. Finally, we apologize to all of her fans. This should have never happened.

BET's social media team thought it was a good idea to make fun of Nicki Minaj on Twitter when Cardi B won at the Grammys... and now Nicki's getting a little payback against the network.

The "QUEEN" rapper announced Monday that she and her label, Young Money, would not be part of the BET Experience later this summer -- which is a concert series she and Cardi were booked to co-headline just days before the BET Awards in June.

Sources connected to Nicki tell us she did, in fact, cancel the gig in direct response to BET's crass joke -- and she made that quite clear with her follow-up tweets.

People were putting BET on blast, saying they owed Nicki an apology since the comment was a low blow. Nicki seemed to agree, saying ... "Meanwhile, BET is being dragged by their lacefront," adding a laughing emoji for good measure.

It's unclear who, if anyone, at the network green lit the controversial tweet, but Nicki clearly doesn't care. If she and Young Money stick to the boycott ... it's a big loss, because it means Lil Wayne's also pulling out of the BET Experience concert.

You'll recall, Nicki and Cardi have had a salty past, getting into it at a NYFW party last September -- but both women said they were squashing the beef. It sounds like Nicki's just pissed about the jab at her, not so much about the celebration of Cardi.

Originally Published -- 12:12 PM PST

A lot has happened to Meek Mill since he allegedly sent goons to jump Safaree Samuels more than a year ago -- and that's exactly why Safaree says it's all water under the bridge.

Our Raquel Harper chopped it up with Nicki Minaj's ex about her other ex, Meek, whom Safaree accused of orchestrating the would-be jumping that went down during the BET Awards last summer ... which Meek, of course, denied.

Welp, Safaree's changed his tune since then ... saying he's seen just how much Meek's been through and how much he's grown as a person since walking out of prison. He even tells Raq they were recently in the same vicinity and things were copacetic.

Funny how petty stuff like ex-girlfriends and verbal jabs fall to the wayside when s**t gets real. Also ... time sure does fly, right?

Vic Mensa would be wise to remain out of the public eye until he does a full mea culpa for dissing XXXTentacion at the BET Awards ... so says one of the late rapper's best buds.

We got Ski Mask the Slump God Monday night leaving LAX and he took aim at Vic for calling out XXX's domestic abuse allegations during his BET freestyle ... with the dude's mother in the crowd. The move caught tons of backlash, and Ski Mask says rightfully so.

He even takes it a step further, saying Vic should probably duck Ski Mask and the rest of XXX's friends until he issues a proper apology to the slain MC's mom.

Vic has already dropped a new song addressing the controversy, which he interestingly called "Empathy." It might be too little, too late for Ski Mask and co. though.

As they put it ... until that real apology comes, keep hiding. Also ... check out Ski Mask's defense of XXX allegedly confessing to beating his girlfriend on tape, and how he reconciles that with what Vic did. Hint ... he's a little biased.

The 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards turned into one big party onstage and off, with the best artists and biggest ballers turning up in South Beach ... showing off their ice, style and swag.

Some of the stars who were dripping extra hard ... award winners Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled, Gucci Mane and Keyshia Ka'Oir, Blac Chyna, T.I. and Tameka, O.T. Genasis, Fabolous ... and lots of other pairs and groups who reveled in the good times.

Also walking the red carpet at The Fillmore Miami Beach ... TMZ's Raquel Harper, in advance of her new TV show.

James Harden celebrated like a boss after winning league MVP at the NBA awards in L.A. on Monday -- hanging out with Meek Mill ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

The Houston Rockets star hit up Avenue nightclub where everyone wanted to rub elbows with HIM -- including Meek.

Of course, the catch is that Meek is still on probation stemming from his old drugs and guns case (pending a decision about getting a new trial) and can't travel outside of Pennsylvania without alerting his probation officer.

Under the terms of his probation, Meek IS allowed to leave the state for work purposes -- and, since he performed at the BET Awards in L.A. on Sunday night, we're guessing it was easy approval process.

Jamie Foxx threw a BET after-party that possibly rivaled the Vanity Fair Oscar party because the place was swarming with A-listers and featured performances by Migos and T.I.

We're told Foxx dropped half a million on the shindig that was held in his L.A.-area mansion after Sunday's awards show. Guests, which included Michael B. Jordan and the entire cast of "Empire," had to be shuttled to the event. MC Lyte, Doug E. Fresh and Lil Mama were also there.

In addition to Migos and Tip ... Tyga and Too Short also took the stage. There were six open bars where Grey Goose flowed like water and, for anyone who had too much, there was In-N-Out burger.

We're told security was making sure no one went upstairs, since it was Foxx's legit home. Bet cleanup was a bitch, not that Foxx is going to be handling that either. He just signs the checks.

The 18th BET Awards got off to a winning start Sunday night with host Jamie Foxx hyped up on "Black Panther" pride ... and the high energy keeps flowing as the show goes on.

DJ Khaled was the night's first winner for his "Wild Thoughts" collab with Rihanna and Bryson Tiller, along with being the top nominee. He brought his cute son, Asahd, on stage to accept his award.

Other highlights from the BET Awards so far include performances by Best Group winner Migos, a sexy Nicki Minaj number, big wins for SZA, Tiffany Haddish and Cardi B ... and a touching tribute and lifetime achievement award presented to legendary R&B singer, Anita Baker.

John Legend also took a moment to honor some real-life heroes in 2018 with Humanitarian Awards, like James Shaw Jr. and hero 'Spiderman' Mamoudou Gassama.

Quavo was all about fam after the BET Awards ... with Mama in tow.

We got the Migos rapper with his family Sunday night at Catch in WeHo celebrating the group's big win at the BET Awards. Migos -- for the second consecutive year -- brought home the Best Group trophy.

The group gave their family a shout-out after winning the award and, clearly, it was no lip service 'cause Quavo showed off his fam bam when paps started snapping ... and he wanted 'em to get a good look at his proud mama.

6/25 -- Law enforcement sources tell us Nipsey Hussle has officially been named a suspect in a battery investigation for the incident.

Nipsey Hussle unleashed a vicious slap on a man's face in the middle of an argument over where he could park his whip ... and it's all captured on video.

Check it out, the L.A. rapper's in the street outside the venue for Sunday night's 'BET Awards' when he gets into with another guy. We're told the issue was whether or not Nipsey could move some cones and drive through a restricted area.

Tempers flare, and after the guy smacks a traffic cone out of the hand of Nipsey's bodyguard ... Hussle unloads a hard right slap.

A law officer immediately grabs Nipsey to keep the fight from escalating ... and then he gets back in his car.