Donald Glover called out the BET Awards over his lack of wins, pointing out that despite the amount of Black-centered content he churns out, he still shares the same number of honors as white, English singer-songwriter Sam Smith.
Glover, who goes by his stage name “Childish Gambino” for music, took the stage on Sunday to present rapper Killer Mike with Album of the Year. But before getting to that, the “Atlanta” star said he “wanted to get some things off my chest.”
“This isn’t personal, but I just feel like I should have more BET Awards. I’m serious. It’s the Black Entertainment Television Awards,” Glover began. “How much more entertaining do I have to do? Because it’s just the math of the fact. It’s just the math of the fact … It doesn’t really make sense.”
He went on to highlight the number of BET Awards trophies he’s received, while also spotlighting what he deems are ironies and inconsistencies in the voting system as it relates to Black and white artists.
“I have more Grammys than Will Smith, which makes no sense, but I have the same amount of BET Awards as Sam Smith. Does that make sense to you guys?” Glover said. “Me and Sam Smith are neck and neck at the Black Entertainment Television [Awards].”
Glover won his lone BET Award for Video of the Year in 2019 for “This Is America.” Meanwhile, Smith won theirs for Best New Artist in 2015 against Rae Sremmurd, DeJ Loaf, Tinashe, Bobby Shmurda and Fetty Wap.
Glover concluded his remarks by stating he would be willing to star in one of BET’s most telecasted films, “Baby Boy,” if it meant he’d get more recognition. In 2017, fans joked about BET’s celebrated 125th airing of the popular John Singleton flick, which is likely why Glover gave a nod to the film.
“If I have to do ‘Baby Boy’ or something, just let me know. I’ll have Jonathan Majors put me in a headlock, shave my head, I’ll do it,” Glover said.
While the BET Awards predominately caters to and celebrates Black excellence in television, film, sports and more, the ceremony has opened its platform up to creatives outside of the Black community. Other past BET Award nominees who are white include Justin Timberlake and Iggy Azalea, for example.
Aside from Glover’s comments, he also shared with the world the trailer debut for his upcoming film “Bando Stone & The New World,” which follows the journey of a famous musician as he navigates a dystopian world without any human interaction, at least until he meets a woman and her child.
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