BET Awards

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.

'Rap City' host Big Tigger says he decided to drop to one knee at the BET Hip Hop Awards to seize the moment, and show support for Colin Kaepernick.

We spoke to Tigger about taking a knee Tuesday night as he entered the event. He was also wearing a black Kaepernick jersey -- but he told us the move wasn't a planned thing -- more like he just happened upon the "right place at the right time."

BT says this isn't just about sports now, instead it's a national issue now -- and he wanted to step into the fray ... just like Jay-Z and President Trump have.

Lil' Kim has a right to remain silent ... when it comes to talking about the robbery that went down at the L.A. home she intended to rent, and she did -- even at a strip club.

The rapper was leaving Crazy Girls early Thursday morning in L.A. where we first buttered her up, and complimented her attire. We then asked point-blank if she's worried about being named a person of interest in the robbery during BET Awards weekend.

We'll say this ... Kim and Miranda are good friends.

If you're a rapper starting fights during BET weekend in L.A., then you might as well be rockin' FUBU and JNCO jeans, or just plain have too much time on your hands, at least according to Common.

We got Common at LAX Wednesday and asked him about the multiple heated run-ins at the BET Awards. He doesn't blame BET for all the commotion.

Karrueche Tran's not getting involved in the Chris Brown-Migos drama ... even if she's at the center.

Karrueche was flying out of LAX Wednesday when we asked about Chris and Migos squaring off during a BET Awards after-party.

Chris is undeniably pissed Quavo's hooking up with his ex, despite Offset saying the brawl had nothing to do with her.

Watch Karrueche dodge the questions ... but the expressions and body language are interesting.

Karrueche's got her own issues with Chris ... which she handled with a restraining order.

Chris Brown just ain't on the same level as Migos ... at least according to Offset, who says he's not sweating the fight they got into with Chris after the BET Awards.

We got Offset Tuesday on Rodeo and asked him what really set off the melee. There's obvious speculation it was about Quavo dating Breezy's ex, Karrueche Tran. Offset didn't exactly deny that when he blamed it on a "whole lotta paper, whole lotta haters, man."

But you gotta see what happened when we asked if he's got a message for Chris.

He also had an awesome reaction to the other BET weekend fight -- Meek Mill and Safaree. #LMFAO

Nicki Minaj couldn't care less about her 2 exes' drama over BET weekend ... 'cause she's got a new hip-hop king to occupy her mind.

Sources close to Nicki tell TMZ she hasn't batted an eyelash over news Meek Mill might have ordered his goons to jump her other ex, Safaree. And the reason is simple ... Nas.

We're told Nicki doesn't feel anything about the fight, mostly 'cause it's not her problem ... and both of those dudes are in her rearview. More importantly ... she's happily moving on with her new man, Mr. Jones ... although it's still in the early stages.

As we reported ... Safaree challenged Meek to a 1-on-1 fight after he claimed Meek orchestrated the attack on him. Meek denies that.

Either way, the bottom line here ... Nicki's over both Meek and Safaree, and their beef is theirs alone.

Somewhere, she and Nas are playing the Counting Crows -- looking deep into each other's eyes.

Meek Mill fired a warning shot but Safaree Samuels didn't care ... and that's why he got his ass kicked.

We're told Meek's crew delivered the message days before the BET Awards weekend kicked off in L.A. The message was simple -- stay yo ass away or else. Our Safaree sources tell us he didn't flinch when he heard the threat and wasn't gonna be a punk and hide out.

TMZ broke the story ... Meek's crew jumped and attacked Safaree Friday. Nicki Minaj's 2 exes had shown up almost around the same time to DJ Khaled's pre-BET party at Penthouse in WeHo when it went down.

We're told the beef at this point is way beyond Nicki ... it's gotten personal following the exchange of verbal jabs for more than a year. Meek has denied he was involved in the latest showdown.

But a boiling point's clearly been reached -- cause Safaree's now challenged Meek to a fight.

Stay tuned ...