BET pulls Chris Brown from Michael Jackson Tribute

At the party on Sunday morning while standing at the bar I noticed a large group of people moving downstairs from the front walkway area. Noticably leading the pack was Chris Brown. It had to be about 2am so the first thing that popped in my head was why would Chris be here this late if he has to open the BET awards.

Later that night I ran into Chris in the backyard near the pool and asked if he would take a picture and he refused. Not knowing what was happening I was a bit turned off by that. The next morning I woke up and found an email waiting saying that Reverend Al Sharpton had Chris pulled from the BET Awards as an opening act. It was leaked that Chris, among others were going to do a tribute to Michael Jackson given his recent passing.

I will say that when I originally heard the song 'Better on the other side' by Diddy, Boyz II Men, Game, Chris Brown, and Mario Winans I too had mixed feelings about mixing the energy surrounding Chris and the overwhelming mourning felt worldwide for Michael. It wasn't until I attended the awards and ran into Chris again at another party on Monday that I felt BET was wrong for pulling him. I have had mixed feelings on Chris since the Rihanna incident. Is it because of the violent act of domestic abuse? Was it because we haven't heard from Chris yet? Was it because I was following everyone else? I don't know the answer to that yet, but what I do know is that the awards clearly could have benefited from Chris' presence and performance. Chris Brown is undoubtedly a talented artist, possibly a future icon in his own right.

On Monday when we passed each other I asked him if I could talk to him for a second. Chris without any hesitance said yes. We talked very briefly about music and other industry things and I told him I wish he would have performed. Chris thanked me and was very humble. It wasin that moment that I felt the need to respect that whatever transpired between Chris and Rihanna should rest with them. It is not my place to judge Chris, nor is it my place to feel sorry for Rihanna. Talking to Chris was like talking to my little cousin, and I just hope that he can somehow regain the public respect that his talent had previously earned.

When does everyone stop hating Chris Brown? I think we should be disappointed in him, but hating him doesn't change what happened, and hating him to the point that he didn't give tribute to someone who would have probably wanted him to was not a good look for BET.

I must admit I did sneak pictures of Chris but I won't post them since he declined to take them. Oh well, maybe next time. Check out the video and tribute song below referenced in this article.

2009 BET Awards!!!

The 2009 BET awards and Michael Jackson tribute occurred this past weekend in LA at the famous Shrine Auditorium. This year I had good seats right where I can watch the entire show. While I've read so many updates about the awards - how bad they were, how they didn't pay homage to Michael Jackson, how bad Beyonce's performance was, etc I have to say the energy in the room was all love.

The awards hosted by Jamie Foxx had everyone and I mean everyone from Beyonce, Jay Z, Tyra Banks, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Puffy to Lebron James, the O'Jays, Ray J, and Snoop in the house. I'll post a couple observations that you did NOT see at home:

1. During Don Cornelius' long, boring, dry, and senial speech, actress/comedienne Jennifer Lewis made gestures of killing herself. While outsiders would say it was tacky, those who know Jennifer know that's just her. I must say Jennifer, I too wanted to do the same!

2. Drake sat in the chair throughout his performance because he recently tore his ACL. He did not go up on stage when Wayne won because he could barely walk without his cane. Although he wasn't as flashy as Weezy, he was the most popular person in the room, and he took a pic with Beyonce that I MUST get a copy of!

3. When Beyonce came out to perform, drag queen Keri Hilson sat in her chair when everyone else got up. Hmm, Beyonce did win Female Artist of the year right? RIGHT.

I have to be honest and say that BET did a phenomenal job pulling together a show within 2 days of Michael's passing. While I do agree that Jamie Foxx and NeYo sang way too much, I'm sure it was because they needed to fill time. I wanted more like a 'We are the World' tribute, or Madonna to come out, but I realized something. Nothing they could have done would have been enough. I did believe the peformances with 90's groups, the tribute to the O'Jay's by Tyrese, Trey Songz, and Johnny Gill was off the chain. That said, they better not create another LSG!

And did you see Monica's return??!! Banana's right! First and foremost, big ups to Keyshia Cole for being humble enough to allow Monica a forum to deliver such a hot performance. I'm just hoping that Monica drops an album soon before everyone forgets!

Lastly, everyone has had something to say about Beyonce's performance. Let's get this clear, BET is getting better and better every year. Beyonce's performace of Ava Maria is a song and performance she is currently doing on tour. Not only did she sound amazing, but she sung the end in French! I say, upgrade your swag and overcome the desire to see Beyonce in drag every time she performs because she was perfect!

That said, I've posted some pictures of people on the red carpet! Enjoy

Here are some pictures I took on the red carpet using my iPhone!

Pleasure Parties!

OK OK, get your minds out of the gutter! *smh* Over the past week me and my crew had a blast with all of the BET awards parties. Now the best part was THEY DIDN'T COST A DOLLAR! Well, at least not for me. But the award for Best BET party (that I attended) this year belongs to *drum roll* Pleasure P and Justin Walker.

On Sunday morning at around 1230 am, the early morning before the BET awards I was tired and sitting in my car with friends. I had exhausted all party possibilities and wanted to keep going. I text every celebrity I knew to ask about parties. The first to respond was R&B hit singer, and former Pretty Ricky member, Pleasure P. He text me saying he and Baldwin Hills star and music producer Justin Walker were having a party as well as the address to his crib. We put the address in the navi and hit it to the hills. Everyone was that from Lil Kim, Chris Brown, Teyana Taylor and Jibbs, to Sean Kingston, Maino, Willie from Day 26, Terrence and Rocsi, and ME! I have to say, Pleasure P and Justin were dope as fuck! Both extremely hospitable and cool as fuck. After many many drinks and the best damn soul food, yes soul food, we kicked it until around 4am then cut.

On Monday night the night after the awards I started receiving texts from celebrity friends and eyelash Guru Jamaal Buster (www.jamaalbuster.com) that Pleasure P and Justin were having ANOTHER party! I called up my friend Bille Woodruff and Quincy (Puffy's son) and we hit it to the hills AGAIN! This time along with the original cast from Sunday's party I ran into Tamala Jones, Souljaboy, Slim Thug, and Omarion. Now this time I drank until the sun came up, leaving around 530am.

Although I joked around with Justin that he was the ringleader, I believe Pleasure's Parties were a doing all of his own! And go cop Pleasure P's debut solo album, 'The Introduction of Marcus Cooper' in stores now!!!