Benzino has laid the blame for the BET Hip-Hop Awards’ indefinite pause squarely at the feet of Fat Joe, disputing his “gentrification” narrative and citing plummeting ratings when Joe helmed the show.
BET and Viacom recently announced that both the Hip-Hop Awards and Soul Train Awards would be paused “indefinitely” as executives explore where the ceremonies might best fit in a shifting media landscape. BET CEO Scott Mills said the network is “actively thinking about where those award shows might best live as the media climate,” but did not elaborate further.
Ratings Drop and the “Gentrification” Claim
Fat Joe, who hosted the Hip-Hop Awards for three consecutive years, attributed the pause to what he described as a form of “gentrification.” On his podcast with Jadakiss, he faulted budget cuts and said, “Little by little over the years, quietly they’ve been firing a lot of people behind the scenes at BET and everybody who has something to say… the budget… just kept getting chopped and chopped and chopped.”
Benzino pushed back strongly on social media, questioning Joe’s assertion and pointing to ratings declines during his hosting tenure. In an Instagram Live session, he said: “Why Fat Joe said it’s gentrification, after they let his ass host the awards two years earlier? 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.”
Television viewership has indeed dropped sharply. In 2022, the BET Hip-Hop Awards drew roughly 708,000 viewers. By 2023, that number fell to about 657,000. In 2024, the audience shrank further, plunging to approximately 333,000 viewers — fewer than half the numbers from two years prior.
Benzino also invoked nostalgia for earlier, more authentic hip-hop award shows when he stated, “Only The Source Hip-Hop Awards did it right for hip-hop.” He went on: “But when Fat Joe comes up here and says oh, it’s gentrification… Man, get the f**k out of here.”
Fat Joe has not responded publicly to Benzino’s comments since they surfaced on social platforms.