Chairman and CEO of the BET network, Debra Lee, is no stranger to receiving negative comments regarding programming on the network. For quite some time, BET was under scrutiny and accused of creating a lineup that wasn’t showing a positive image of the black community. Even BET’s co-founder Sheila Johnson, slammed the network last year, claiming that she was ashamed of what the network had become after she, and her husband Bob Johnson sold it off to Viacom.
Recently, Debra, who has been with the network for 26 years, spoke with FOX Business Network’s Gerri Willis and revealed that BET has made long strides in improving and getting more strict about what they allow to air. The shift in programming has caused them to deny videos from major money-making artists such as Kanye West, Rihanna, and Ciara.
On the Criticism of Degrading Women
“I think the criticism has gone away. The first thing I did, which was in the works anyway, was to create more original programming that shows different images of women. So our sitcoms have started doing that. We’ve got moredocumentaries. We’re going to get into the drama business. We’ve cut back on the amount of music videos, that’s how we grew up but now we’re in a positionwhere we can do other kinds programming.”
On Becoming More Selective With Programming
“We’ve gotten more strict on what we allow on air. We used to live by broadcast standards, but as the hip hop industry got a little more risqué we had actually had to bring that back some and say just because it can be on the air doesn’t mean it has to be on the air.”
On Declining to Air Certain Artist’s Music Videos
“As we worked on our brand and where I wanted to take the network, I started to say no to a lot of artists. I said no to Kanye [West] and to Ciara. Those are the ones that come to mind. I think Rihanna we’ve been working with. And that’s sort of amazed me a little bit, that I had to say no to women, but someone had to be the grownup in the room. I didn’t ask for that job but someone had to say no and looking at it from our young audience’s perspective.”
Whether you watch BET on the regular or not, there has been some noticeable improvements over the last few years. With the influx of female artists that the network has denied; it raises the question of whether or not, male artists are primarily at fault for misogynistic material and featuring half-naked women gyrating in their videos, or are the women who, in an attempt to exude sex appeal, are just as responsible for how black women are represented.
