Entertainment
Lil Nas X passionately kisses dancer at BET Awards 2021 as he performs queer anthem Montero (Call Me By Your Name)
Lil Nas X pushed the bar with his BET Awards performance (Picture: Invision/AP)
Lil Nas X put the cherry on top of his show-stopping BET Awards 2021 performance by sharing a passionate kiss with one of his male dancers.
When all eyes weren’t on Cardi B and her baby bump, the Old Town Road hitmaker commanded attention with an energetic performance of his latest hit single Montero (Call Me By Your Name).
The 22-year-old rapper and singer put on a big production with an Egyptian-themed set and even a dance break inspired by Michael Jackson’s Remember The Time choreography.
As the performance drew to a close, Lil Nas stood at the top of steps where he was surrounded by members of his troupe at his feet. In a groundbreaking moment, he then planted a huge kiss on one of the male dancers and wrapped his arm around the other.
It went down with the audience who broke out into cheers while fans also heaped praise on the moment on social media.
Even hip hop mogul Diddy tweeted: ‘Lil Nas X did that!! Be fearless!!!’
One fan commented: ‘Lil Nas X just kissed a man on the BET awards stage and paid tribute to Michael Jackson. Imma let y’all finish but he slayed that.’
Another said: ‘I’m glad Lil Nas X did that kiss at the end. So many needed to see that for different reasons.’
‘Lil Nas X was feeling his sassss tonight darling. And he said fuck them people I’m finna do this kiss on BET,’ another cheered.
‘Lil Nas X did the damn thing. A performance and he kissed that back up dancer like yaass niece queer that stage up and piss them off,’ one other weighed in.
However, not everyone was supportive as Lil Nas later hit back at critics and defended the performance on Twitter.
The singer performed Montero (Call Me By Your Name) (Picture: Getty Images)
He was forced to defend the risque performance (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Y’all really like to pretend homosexuality didn’t exist in African culture,’ the musician wrote after one Twitter user told him to ‘respect our ancestors’.
Remaining defiant against the hate, Lil Nas later dubbed the BET Awards ‘LGBET’ instead.
The performance came just before the end of Pride Month, which will always be a memorable time for Lil Nas as he came out during Pride in 2019.
More: US Showbiz news
He tweeted at the time: ‘Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more. but before this month ends i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure.’
It was in reference to his track c7osure where he alludes to his sexuality.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
