Lil Nas X closes ‘Montero’ BET Awards performance with a kiss
Like in Michael Jackson’s "Remember the Time" video, Lil Nas X and his dancers were clad in Egyptian-inspired wear
Lil Nas X performed his hit record, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” at the BET Awards on Sunday and closed out his performance with a deep kiss with one of his male back-up dancers.
In a presentation reminiscent of the late, great Michael Jackson’s iconic video for “Remember the Time,” the rapper and his muscle-etched dancers were clad in Egyptian-inspired fashions.
The staging, which came at the end of Pride Month, earned a lot of support from fans on social media.
“Lil Nas X is the black gay popstar I needed to see as a kid. The fearlessness it takes to be so decidedly queer in front of a notoriously homophobic audience. I needed that,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
English radio DJ Nick Charles contended Sunday night’s performance was particularly notable for Blacks, calling it “a BIG moment!!! An openly black gay on the BET Awards and giving a performance like this!!! This is a moment!! @LilNasX did that #Montero #betawards2021”
The rap star — who came out in 2019 — told People magazine last month the love that he receives “outweighs the hate by like a hundred.”
The single he performed on the BET Awards had previously received extensive backlash for its extravagant, biblically-inspired music video. A limited-release sneaker inspired by “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” even sparked a lawsuit from Nike after backlash from conservatives. Nonetheless, the hit song is at the top of the Billboard Global 200 singles chart for a fifth week, making it the longest-running No. 1 by a male solo artist.
After his performance, Lil Nas X wondered on Twitter, “did y’all like the performance?!”
His tweet had garnered over 36,000 likes by press time, garnering thousands of replies, with one fan writing definitively: “you ate that thank you for being bold & not being afraid of what the public will say. you’re breaking down major doors for the next LGBT artists to come!”
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