Keith Lee Shares Insight Into BET Awards Confusion

After a confusing moment during the recent BET Awards, Keith Lee took to social media to share his thoughts on what went down.

The wildly popular TikTok food critic was seated in the front row next to his wife, Ronni Lee, during the awards ceremony, who was seated next to another super popular content creator – Jordan Howlett, otherwise known as Jordan the Stallion.

When BET Awards host Taraji P. Henson approached the three, she mistakenly called Howlett Keith, leading to unscripted confusion.

It was a simple moment of confusion that has turned into a lot of chatter online, and Keith wanted to share his POV to clear up any misconceptions.

“Mr. Keith Lee, I know what you’re thinking right now, this is about a 10.9 outta 10?” Henson said to Howlett, not Keith. That’s when Howlett pointed over toward Keith and Ronni to point out the mistake.

“I got caught up in my own inner monologue, I’m so sorry,” Henson told Keith before flirting with him for a second and then continuing on.

Lee took to TikTok to share his view of the situation and to stop people from making it into something it’s not.

“First and foremost, I want to start by saying, I am not upset at Taraji P. Henson by any stretch of the imagination,” Keith said in his TikTok video. “I don’t think for one second that Taraji had any ill will or any ill intentions behind the situation. The situation happened the way it did. It is what it is.”

Keith then explained the video that some followers saw before it was deleted.

“I made a video last night where I had the rose that was given to me in my hand and I let it fall on the floor. The reason I did this had nothing to do with Taraji B. Henson,” he said.

“The reason I dropped it on the floor is that I wholeheartedly believe that wasn’t my rose. That wasn’t my rose, that wasn’t my moment. It was given to me, but it wasn’t mine and I always say, ‘I don’t want nothing that ain’t mine.'”

He continued explaining that the “entire segment on the production side felt extremely rushed” and it didn’t “feel intentional” or “purposeful.”

Despite feeling that way, Keith said he’s grateful for “every room that I’m in.”

“I was more than thankful and more than grateful to just sit there and enjoy the show,” he continued. “Me and my wife looked amazing, we felt amazing, we was enjoying the show.”

The content creator and food critic also explained that with social anxiety, it’s enough for him to just get out and enjoy moments such as the awards show.

“So to take me and my wife out of our seats, put us in different seats, give Taraji no direction to who we are or what we do, felt extremely unprofessional to me,” he shared. “I’m personally a fan of Taraji. I’ve been for years, and I always will be. I love to see her get the recognition that she deserved in that moment and had a platform and a stage that she’s always deserved.”

Keith feels that this unfortunate situation took away from both Henson’s moment as well as his and his wife’s moment, and it was unfair to all involved.

And then there’s a photo of Ronni looking like she has an “attitude” directed at Henson during the on-air exchange. Keith also wanted to clear that up with viewers.

Keith explained that the flirtatious moment with Henson was “fully improv” and just a joke, and that both he and his wife understood that completely.

“It was a hard situation for all of us to be in. We fully understand she made it up on the fly,” he continued. “I was there to just enjoy the show. I was invited, no situations, in life in general. I never longed for the spotlight. If I wanted the spotlight, I would have accepted a quarter of the opportunities that’s been presented to us.”

Keith also reiterated something he has many times before – he will always be himself, and “nothing about this journey, about this ride, about where we at or where we gonna be, is gonna change me.”

“Never once was I upset that Taraji didn’t know who I was. Everything that’s for me will be for me,” he said. “Everything that’s for my family will be for my family.”

As with most of Keith’s TikTok videos, his “Keith Speaks” video quickly went viral with more than 2.5 million views.

Many viewers dropped into the comment section to share their thoughts on the BET Awards confusion and how Keith handled it.

“This was actually a very good response. Fans really be pushing it,” one person said. More than 26,000 people liked the comment.

Another viewer shared, “And this is why Keith Lee is where he is today.”