Vulnerability, identity and profanity: What Usher actually said during his heavily-censored BET Awards speech

Usher big winner at BET Awards

Usher was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 BET Awards on Sunday (June 30).

After accepting the award, the eight-time Grammy winner proceeded to give a nearly 15-minute-long speech that ended up being heavily censored.

The network has since apologized to the singer, claiming that an “audio malfunction” is what led to part of his speech being “inadvertently muted,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

However, in a video captured by an audience member at the award show and later uploaded to TikTok, it appears certain moments of Usher’s speech were censored due to his use of profane language.

Here’s what he actually said:

“Gettin’ here has definitely not been easy, but it has been worth it,” Usher began. “I have a lot of people that I want to thank, but before I get into any of it – by the way, I should caution you that I love to talk and I have a way with words. What I will say, is I don’t have write anything because I wanted this moment to be exactly what it was: present. In this moment, how I am feeling and the appreciation that I have for each and every person that had anything to do with this moment tonight, as well as the 30+ year career that I celebrate.”

Going on to acknowledge members of his team standing behind him, Usher said: “They say success has a million fathers. Well, I start with these guys right here. This is the village, these are the men who motivated me, who have spoken to me, who have been solid no matter how f***ed up it may have been.

“I’m sorry I’m cursing, this is how I really feel,” he said. “‘Cause at one point it got really thick, and motherf***ers wasn’t f***ing with me. I get it, I understand, sometimes you gotta go through some s*** to get to something.

“Imma tell you, they solid,” Usher said, again pointing back at his team. “And it ain’t about a motherf***ing hit right there. They solid, and they are always gonna have my back, and I’m gonna always have theirs.”

Continuing to speak about his success, he told the crowd that no matter what, “you have to express your goals outwardly.”

“I can proudly say I’m the bastard of Usher,” he said, referring to his father Usher Raymond III, who he explained left him and his mother when he was a baby.

“But I made something of it and I did it because my mother, she subbed in two ways, she was a mother and a father at the same time. This is the power of a Black woman in America,” Usher added. “With everything that I have accomplished, I didn’t do it alone. I want to thank the ones who are not here to be able to see this moment whom are fathers or were like fathers to me.”

Usher went on to name singer Harry Belafonte, who died in April 2023, record producer Quincy Jones and the late music executive Clarence Avant as some of the men he looked up to throughout his career.

He also touched on the power of forgiveness, publicly forgiving those “who had anything negative to say about me because it only motivated me to me who I am.”

“‘Good Good’ is more than just a song,” he said of the second track on his latest record, Coming Home.

“I’m trying to turn a new leaf, you know we gotta be cool for the kids,” he said, addressing his ex-wife, Tameka Foster, with whom he shares his oldest sons, Usher “Cinco” Raymond V and Naviyd Ely.

Pointing to rapper and record producer Swizz Beatz’s relationship with his ex-wife, Mashonda, and current wife Alicia Keys, and how they all “manage to pull things together,” he said: “I’m trying Tameka.”

Speaking directly to his sons in the audience, he said: “It is 100 percent all about my children and making certain you understand that your dreams can come true if you are truly committed it, if you are dedicated to something and you find passion and you stay committed to it, this could potentially be you. This could be your moment.

“Not on this stage because I’m the only one that’s going to have this one,” he quipped to audience laughter, “but you could have a moment like this, too.”

Concluding with a bible verse, Usher said: “He who knows no sin casts the first stone. You’ve got to be willing to forgive, we got to be willing to be open. I’m telling you, you’re standing before a man who had to forgive a man who never showed up, ever. And look what I made with it. Look what I was able to usher in. But that’s what’s real, and that’s what makes us human. That’s what makes us men and women. I thank y’all.”