Jamie Foxx takes the BET Awards on a wild ride
Jamie Foxx’s BET Awards hosting stint was full of surprises.
The actor/singer’s roller coaster of an appearance at Sunday night’s ceremony had its highs, like when he reminded the crowd of his golden singing voice during a tribute to Anita Baker.
But more often than not, Foxx’s moments of surprise were embarrassing for everyone involved, especially when he pulled audience members onstage to participate in bits they probably were not expecting.
One victim of Foxx’s guerrilla hosting strategy was Donald Glover, who seemed as surprised as everyone else when Foxx called the “This Is America” singer to the stage.
“That song should not be joked about,” Foxx said, going off-script to recite the lyrics and breaking into a few of the dance moves from the song’s provocative video.
Calling Glover a “true artist,” Foxx implored Glover to join him onstage, saying, “I wanna acknowledge you.”
Things got cringeworthy once Glover, who seemed unaware Foxx would be calling for his participation, took the stage, performing a few lines from “This Is America” before acknowledging, “I really was not expecting to get up here.”
Twitter users, unenthused by the seemingly surprise bit, compared Foxx cajoling Glover into performing with “your mama saying, ‘Show us that little dance you be doing.’ ”
Foxx also had some words about Glover’s BET Awards attire, which he described onstage as “pajamas.”
“(You) just rolled out of bed,” Foxx cracked, adding to the uncomfortable scene. “That’s how you know you’re rich: Get out of bed with your pajamas on and come to the BET Awards.”
Before that, Foxx opened the show with a monologue almost entirely focused on “Black Panther,” drawing cheers from the crowd for his praise — and an uncomfortable silence when he complimented the movie’s “real accents.”
“We don’t need a president right now, because we got our king, King T’Challa,” he said. “Ryan Coogler gave us our king.”
Foxx closed his monologue by recruiting another audience member to join him, picking out Michael B. Jordan in the audience and bringing him onstage to read one “Black Panther” line, which Foxx called “so significant for today, right now.”
Jordan played along with his surprise onstage appearance, approaching the mike and reciting his character Erik Killmonger’s final line of the movie. “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, because they knew death was better than bondage,” Jordan said.
Beyond a few other bits that fell flat, including one appearance in his bathrobe, Foxx won over the crowd with his tribute to Anita Baker, who was honored with the show’s lifetime achievement award. After kicking off the tribute by showing off his falsetto, he handed the reins to Ledisi, Marsha Ambrosius and Yolanda Adams to finish the medley of Baker’s classic songs.
“I need some ladies to do this with me,” Foxx said, bringing the women onstage.
Foxx’s performance gained largely positive reviews on social media, reminding viewers that, yes, he really can sing.
So how’d he do?
Overall, Foxx’s performance gained mixed reviews, with many viewers expressing embarrassment on social media throughout the show.
“Jamie Foxx is an amazing entertainer. Comedian, sAnger (not just a singer), actor, musician. He can do it all,” #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign wrote. “So his hosting tonight is ... disappointing. Because I know he’s better than this.”