Tyler Perry gave a powerful speech at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on Monday night, calling out Hollywood studios and going off on President Donald Trump's America. Perry began with a story about himself and his son walking along the beach and the two taking note of all the footprints they left behind in the sand.
“I say that to you tonight because I wanna talk to you about this thing that is happening in this country and I want you to pay attention to it. Don’t miss this,” Perry said, as caught by The Hollywood Reporter. “They are removing our books from libraries, they are removing our stories and our history, they are removing our names from government buildings. It’s as if someone wants to erase our footprints. But the truth of the matter, it’s impossible to erase our footprints because we left them on water. What I mean by that is, we were snatched from our homeland, brought across the ocean and left footprints all the way to America.”
From there, Tyler Perry turned his attention to Hollywood studios. “I can tell you this, I have made more Black billionaires, hear me when I say this, than any studio in this city combined,” he said. “Because I’m making footprints. So I don’t care if you’re struggling, if you’re trying to make it, you’re trying to build a business, if you have a dream, keep making footprints. Don’t let anybody stop you, you can do it.”
Jamie Foxx BET Awards Speech
Tyler Perry wasn't the only speaker to make headlines for their time on stage, Monday. Jamie Foxx has also been going viral for breaking into tears during his speech to accept one of the Ultimate Icon Awards. Foxx admitted that the in memoriam section of the ceremony caused him to reflect on how close he came to death after suffering a stroke in 2023.
"When I saw that in memoriam, I was like, 'Man, that could've been me.' But I don't know why I went through what I went through, but I know that my second chance, I'm not going to turn it down," Foxx said, as noted by USA Today. He also showed love to his family for supporting him during the health scare.
