S. Samuel
Grammy-winning singer Beyonce Knowles-Carter reportedly took offense to a diss shot at fellow R&B crooner Lauryn Hill during last night's BET Awards ceremony and stood up for L-Boogs during an acceptance speech.
Tensions rose moments before Beyonce won the award for Best R&B Artist.
Beyonce wasn’t laughing when a boy band DISSED Lauryn Hill at last night’s BET Awards … in fact, Bey was so upset, she changed her acceptance speech (on the fly) to HONOR the former Fugee. So let’s start with The Diss — Comedian Mike Epps and the group Mindless Behavior were co-presenting the award for Best R&B Artist when Mike jokingly tried to sing. One of the members of the group quipped, “You sing BAD … like Lauryn Hill’s tax accountant bad.” (TMZ)
Reports claim Bey nixed her originally planned speech and stood up for Hill.
The diss drew gasps from the crowd … and pissed off Beyonce, who ultimately WON the award that was being presented. But TMZ has learned … B was so upset, she scrapped the speech she had prepared and defended Lauryn’s honor instead … saying, “I want to thank all the talented R&B women that came before me like Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige.” When B walked off stage, there was a woman waiting for her — possibly a BET handler — and B began to vent about the insult, saying the Lauryn Hill diss was “disrespectful” and “not cool.” The woman complimented Beyonce for adding Lauryn Hill’s name to her acceptance speech … to which Beyonce replied, “I just felt [the diss] was wrong.” (TMZ)
The joke came after Hill pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges.
Hill’s attorney Nathan Hockman said the star had been targeted by the federal government because of her celebrity status. “There are many people in society who fail to file their taxes on time who only face civil liability,” Hockman said. “They chose Ms. Hill in particular because of who she was.” Hill spoke little at her hearing today and stood attentively with her arms crossed in front of her chest when the judge first addressed her. She appeared in a white button-down shirt, blue blazer and long coral skirt. (Star-Ledger)
She avoided incarceration by posting a hefty bail bond at her Newark, New Jersey federal court appearance on Friday.
Hill, 37, a hip hop singer and rapper best known as a member of the Fugees and for a Grammy-winning 1998 solo album, pleaded guilty to failing to file federal returns between 2005 and 2007, despite an income of more than $1.8 million primarily from film and recording royalties. Her sentencing date was set for sometime in late November. She was released on $150,000 bail. (Reuters)
Check out the BET Awards incident below:
