BET Awards: Janelle Monae Holds Up Middle Finger, Says “F*** You, Supreme Court” During Live Telecast

Ryan Gajewski
·3 min read

The stars at the BET Awards wasted no time in criticizing the Supreme Court after its decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide.

Janelle Monáe, the first presenter of the night, put up a middle finger and said, “Fuck you, Supreme Court,” from the stage during the live ceremony that took place Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The expletive was bleeped during the telecast, but her middle-finger gesture was shown.

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“I’d like to give a special, special shout-out to Black women, to Black queer artists, to Black nonbinary artists,” Monáe said. “These artists making art on our own terms, owning our truths and expressing ourselves freely and unapologetically in a world that tries to control and police our bodies, my body, and our decisions, my decision.”

She continued, “Fuck you, Supreme Court. I know we are celebrating us right now, as we should — we absolutely deserve to celebrate, especially now. We must celebrate our art by protecting our right and our truths.” 

Host Taraji P. Henson also addressed the Supreme Court ruling during her opening statements to begin the show, which followed Lizzo’s performance of “About Damn Time.” Henson praised Lizzo’s announcement Friday that she would be donating $500,000 to Planned Parenthood, with Live Nation offering another $500,000.

“Thank you, Lizzo, for pledging 1 million dollars to Planned Parenthood,” Henson said. “And you damn right — it’s about damn time. It’s about damn time we step into our power. It’s about damn time we talk about the fact that guns have more rights than a woman. It’s a sad day in America.”

The star added, “A weapon that can take lives has more power than a woman, who can give life — if she chooses to.”

Jazmine Sullivan, the night’s first winner, for best R&B/pop artist, also addressed the issue during her time onstage, although she didn’t directly mention the Supreme Court or abortion. “As always, I do this for the women — for my sisters, especially,” the singer said. “It’s a hard time right now for us, and I want to speak directly to the men. We need y’all. We need y’all to stand up. Stand up for us, stand up with us.”

Sullivan continued, “If you have ever benefited from a woman making one of the toughest decisions of her life, which is to terminate a pregnancy, you need to be standing with us. This is not just a woman’s issue. This is everybody’s issue, and we need your support more than ever, OK, fellas. Y’all got us? Because we’ve got y’all. Y’all got us?”

Latto, winner for best new artist, said as part of her own acceptance speech, “It’s giving pro-choice. It’s never giving a man policing my body.”

Later in the night, the stars of BET’s Sistas addressed the Supreme Court decision. “Not only are we sisters on camera but also in real life,” castmember Novi Brown said from the stage. “In light of the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade and political events affecting our nation, it’s time for sistas across the world to join hands and lift our voices.”

The BET Awards are airing live Sunday on BET.

This story was originally published on June 26 at 5:38 p.m.

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