BET Awards

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 ...

Leslie Jones ain't putting on the Ritz -- she's pissed about the service she got at L.A.'s Ritz-Carlton, and fired back at the hotel the same way Kanye West did George Dubya.

Fresh off hosting the BET Awards in downtown L.A. -- right next to the Ritz -- Leslie implored her 693,000 followers to NOT stay there, claiming "THEY DONT LIKE BLACK PEOPLE!!"

Unclear what exactly happened to set her off, but the Ritz responded to Leslie's tweet with ... "@Lesdoggg We're sorry to hear this. We pride ourselves on providing excellent service to all. Please DM us & we'll look into this right away."

When Migos and Chris Brown's crews went HAM at a BET Awards after-party, everyone in the vicinity of the violence got drawn into the melee ... and that includes DJ Khaled and Future.

We just obtained this video of the brawl which started inside the party. Witnesses say someone in Chris' crew threw the first punch at someone in Migos' entourage. You can see, it immediately heated up after that.

Friends held back Chris, and the scrum eventually spilled into Future and Khaled ... whose fiancée and son, Asahd, were standing nearby -- you can hear her scream.

As we showed you, the whole fight ended up spilling into a parking lot ... where ultimately everyone parted ways. Chris never threw a punch and was not arrested.

The BET Awards made special plans to accommodate Karrueche Tran's restraining order against Chris Brown ... even though he was scheduled to perform and she was a presenter.

Production sources tell TMZ ... Karrueche was given a heads-up by BET producers that Chris would be performing Sunday night. When he took the stage, producers moved her to a holding room to ensure Chris never got within 100 yards of Karrueche, as the court order requires.

We're told she did not watch Chris's performance while in the holding room. Also, Chris never sat in the audience -- he was only backstage, and he and Karrueche never crossed paths.

We're told BET invited her almost 2 months ago to present an award, and she agreed so she could promote her show, "Claws." Remember, she was smack in the middle of her case against Chris at that time ... which included allegations he'd made violent threats.

It seemed odd she chose to be at the same event as him, but it's now clear BET went out of its way to address any concerns Karrueche might have -- and to ensure Chris didn't violate the protective order.

Of course, none of that prevented her new bf Quavo, and his Migos crew, from squaring off with Chris at an after-party.

Future and his daughter weren't about to take their masks off at the BET Awards 'cause they cost a damn fortune to make.

You might have noticed Future and his little girl, Londyn, rocking Bane-like masks Sunday on the red carpet, and even during the rapper's performance at the show. Well, the hardware didn't come cheap ... try about $9,000 for 3 of 'em.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Future's camp hired designers Marianna Harutunian and Xtina Milani to create 3 unique masks for Future and Londyn.

We're told Future dropped between $2,500 to $3,000 per mask -- all of which were made with brass frames and Swarovski crystals. Londyn rocked rose gold brass with gold crystals. Future had one for arrivals and another for his performance ... both with clear, black and orange crystals.

They took about a week and a half to make. Clearly, Future's was designed so he could rap through it.

Migos taught Joe Budden a valuable interviewing lesson -- don't abruptly end it and walk off unless you feel like getting your ass kicked.

The bizarre scene went down Sunday as Budden, DJ Akademiks and Nadeska Alexis interviewed the rap trio on their "Everyday Struggle" show before the BET Awards.

Tensions flared when Akademiks brought up the fact Takeoff was left off the hit single "Bad and Boujee" ... prompting the rapper to fire back. After a brief exchange, Budden demands Akademiks wrap up the interview but Akademiks apparently was taking too much time for Budden's liking ... who drops the mic and walks off.

Check it out ... Migos wasn't having it and all hell nearly breaks loose.

We asked Lil Yachty for his take on the beef ... no surprise whose side he's on.

Migos and Chris Brown's tempers just got things jumping at the BET Awards after-party ... so much so, cops had to respond.

Sources at the party tell us Chris had just finished premiering his new music video with Future at the event ... near Microsoft Theater in downtown L.A. We're told the guys from Migos were walking in at the same time, and when they came face-to-face with Chris' crew things got tricky.

Witnesses tells us someone in Chris' group pushed Quavo, and then one of the Migos guys jumped in ... but then he got punched. We're told Chris kept walking while all of this was going on -- perhaps, wisely, realizing he don't need any heat from Johnny Law.

However, we're told Migos and some friends followed Chris to his car and surrounded him.

Ultimately, Chris was able to leave without anyone getting hurt ... but not before some very tense moments.

We're told cops showed up too, but everyone had split by then.