Some of Usher’s confessions didn’t make it to broadcast during the BET Awards Sunday — and now, the network is apologizing and sharing his complete remarks.
The “Yeah” singer gave a lengthy speech as he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award during the ceremony, but the broadcast experienced interruptions that BET says were caused by technical malfunctions.
"Celebrating global icon Usher on our stage with a star-studded tribute and having him accept his award with a heartfelt speech was an honor,” a BET spokesperson said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “Due to an audio malfunction during the live telecast, portions of his speech were inadvertently muted. We extend our sincere apologies to Usher as we couldn't be more grateful for his participation in Culture's Biggest Night. Fans can catch his full uninterrupted speech across BET platforms and tonight's encore on BET."
Reps for Usher did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.
The network shared Usher’s complete 13-minute speech on YouTube. The singer said that he didn’t prepare remarks in advance because he wanted his speech to capture the authenticity of his feelings in the moment. “Is it too early for me to receive it because I'm still running and gunning and I still love this s--- like I did when I was 8 years old?” Usher pondered. (Some of the expletives within the speech remain muted in the YouTube version of the speech, while others are not.)
Usher went on to address his absent father, whom he says he forgives. “When I first started, I had a different idea about what I thought life was going to be,” he said. “I really was searching for some identity, and I was doing that specifically because… I was trying to make sense of this name that a man gave me that didn't stick around because he didn't love me, or at least that was my perception of it,” the singer said of his father, whose name was also Usher Raymond.
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