Benzino didn’t hold back when he called out Joe for talking about BET’s behind-the-scenes moves. According to the former editor-in-chief of The Source, Fat Joe’s time as host didn’t help boost the brand.
“Why Fat Joe said it’s gentrification, after they let his ass host the awards two years earlier?” Benzino said on Instagram Live. “The ratings were the worst ever after he hosted it. Was it gentrification when you was hosting it, Joey? Stop, man. Joe, you’re putting out too much misinformation on the internet, bro. You gotta do better, man.”
Fat Joe recently claimed that BET’s issues are tied to its shift away from Black ownership and culture, calling the cancellation of the shows “a form of gentrification.” Joe also said the network’s been slashing budgets and quietly firing staff.
“Little by little over the years, quietly, they’ve been firing a lot of people behind the scenes in BET and everybody who has something to say, they’ve been firing them,” Joe said on his Joe and Jada podcast with Jadakiss. “The budget, not for me, but the budget just kept getting chopped and chopped and chopped.”
Benzino Fat Joe BET Awards
The BET Hip-Hop Awards have seen a steady drop in viewership over the last three years. Coincidentally, all three years feature one constant: Fat Joe as the host. In 2022, the show pulled in around 708,000 viewers.
The following year, that number slipped to 657,000. In 2024, just 333,000 people tuned in, over half of what they had in 2022. Of course, it would be unfair to pin such a dramatic drop on Joe alone, but Benzino is arguing that his presence on the show contributed to that, if nothing else.
The BET Hip-Hop Awards were a cultural touchstone for over a decade. However, an increased lack of knowledge of what’s hot and what isn’t, combined with changes to the network’s business model have not done the show any favors in recent years. BET intends to “reimagine” both that ceremony and the Soul Train Awards, with them possibly being back for 2026.