At the 2022 BET Awards, Kanye West unexpectedly showed up to award Sean “Diddy” Combs with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The “Donda” rapper spoke on stage while wearing a black mask, hat, and sunglasses that fully hid his face.
He said, “How do we crown our kings? How do we appreciate our kings?”
“I go to him for advice to this day. He inspires so many of my choices, so many of my life choices. My wife choices,” West continued, referencing his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
“Thanks for that, Puff.”
“You know, I took a little hiatus. I said, I just want to declare myself legally dead for a year. I just want to be off the grid, and Puff is pretty persistent, but I had to think, bro, it’s like, people get amnesia. Like I should never have Puff have to ever call more than one time. Any of us in this room, if Puff ever need us, we need to jump and be there. This man has been through [, and] survived a lot of stuff and broke down a lot of doors so we can be standing … he broke down so many doors of classism, taste, swag. Puff, if I never told you I love you, you’re my brother,” said West.
The Grammy Awards disallowed Kanye from performing at the ceremony back in April due to “concerning online behavior,” despite the fact that he was nominated for five awards. His first public appearance since that time was at the 2022 BET Awards show.