Taraji P. Henson is speaking out after confusing two TikTokers at the BET Awards this past weekend. During the show, there was a segment in which she was giving people their flowers. 

 

At one point, she approached an influencer named Jordan Howlett, mistaking him for Keith Lee, a viral and well-known TikTok personality who reviews local restaurants throughout North America to help them boost business.

Realizing the mistake, Jordan quickly pointed to Keith Lee, who sat just two seats away, and Taraji scuffled over to him, apologizing for the mistake and saying she “got caught up in her own inner monologue”. It didn’t seem like a big deal, until Keith posted a now-deleted TikTok of him dropping the rose she gave him on the floor.

 

After deleting the first video, Keith posted a second follow up video further addressing the situation. In the video, he explained that he wasn’t upset at Taraji and thought she did a great job as the host. But he said he dropped the rose on the floor because:

“The reason I did this had nothing to do with Taraji P. Henson. The reason I did this is that I wholeheartedly believe it wasn’t my rose, it wasn’t my moment. It was given to me, but it wasn’t mine,” he continued. “I always say, I don’t want nothing that wasn’t mine. I am forever thankful for every room that I’m in. I was more than thankful and more than grateful to just sit there and enjoy the show.”

@keith_lee125

💕 Keith Speaks 💕 God Is Amazing 🙏🏽 #foodcritic 💕@Ronni Lee @Taraji P. Henson @BET Networks

♬ original sound - Keith Lee

Upon publishing the second video, a lot of people expressed that he was doing too much and should have just let it go. Others, though, understood his frustration and where he was coming from, citing some of the incredible work he’s done in communities across the U.S. and particularly for small, struggling businesses.

 

Keith expressed frustration at the producers, who asked him and his wife to move seats specifically for the segment, only for there to be a miscommunication about where he was sitting. And where he was seated was one of Taraji’s main points in her response, which read:

The chatter online is pretty evenly divided between three groups. There’s one cohort that thinks Keith is dragging it out. There’s another cohort that has been steadfast in their support and defence of Taraji. And there’s a third cohort of people that say this entire conversation is pointless – and that something like this is bound to happen. Additionally, there have been a few social media users to suggest that this is why influencers and TikTokers shouldn’t be granted access into coveted spaces or treated like celebrities, because they’re not.

 

I see the merit in each of these arguments. I understand why people think Keith is doing too much. But in his defence, I think what people are forgetting is that he is a content creator. Something like this happening in his life at the BET Awards is absolutely content-worthy. Particularly when his followers, 16.4 million to be exact, are in his comments asking how he felt about the situation. Of course he is going to make content about it. 

I also understand why people are supporting Taraji. She didn’t mistake the two intentionally. She’s a busy celebrity who clearly doesn’t know who either of these people are and she was trying to do her job as host, and the producers did not give her up-to-date information. This is essential in a live show. 

And I also totally understand why people are suggesting influencers shouldn’t be granted access into places like the BET Awards. We’ve heard this same thought from Billie Eilish, who expressed confusion over what TikTokers were doing at the Peoples Choice Awards earlier this year.

 

I think there’s also something deeper in Keith’s refusal that this wasn’t his “moment”. Taraji addressed him by name and gave him a flower. Is he suggesting that because Taraji wasn’t able to recognize him by face, that that renders the entire moment null and void? If so, I think that’s a very unfair expectation to put on anybody, particularly in a world where new internet personalities rise to fame every week. 

As we have written about here before, gossip hygiene is crucial. Perspective is crucial. And this situation is a clear example of why. It’s so easy for narratives to fly on social media, particularly when, in the vastness of any given platform, you are guaranteed to find a narrative that feeds into whichever school of thought you fall into – whether you side with Keith, Taraji, think the conversation is pointless, or that TikTokers should stay in their lane. 

That’s the danger of not having good gossip hygiene – the assumption that whatever you believe trumps all other ways of thinking simply because there are people that are aligned with your thinking. 

 

A lot of people are hoping that with Taraji chiming in and speaking her piece, it will wrap up the conversation once and for all. And that’s my hope, too. Because the only thing we should still be talking about this late after the award show is Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monet’s sexy performance on stage and how Beyonce reposted it, giving it her stamp of approval. Period!

Photo credits: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

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