newsmakers
newsmakers
BET suspends producer after Blue Ivy joke
NEW YORK
BET has suspended a producer after a joke about Beyonce and Jay Z’s daughter that aired Monday on the network’s music-video countdown show, “106 & Park.”
A source at BET, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to discuss the matter publicly, said the producer was suspended after a remark about 2-year-old Blue Ivy’s hair.
On Monday’s show during a segment about Blue Ivy’s hypothetical thoughts during Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards, guest host Karrueche Tran said: “I really did wake up like this, because my parents never comb my hair.” Blue Ivy joined her mother onstage at the VMAs.
Stephen Hill, BET’s president of music programming and specials, publicly apologized on Twitter.
“Last night on 106 & Park there was a stupid, unthoughtful joke made about a young child,” Hill tweeted.
Hill also said the network privately apologized to Beyonce and Jay Z.
BET didn’t return an email seeking a comment Wednesday.
Tran, who has dated singer Chris Brown, tweeted Tuesday that she did not write the joke. She wrote: “Now y’all know I LOVE me some Beyonce and Blue Ivy!”
Hill also tweeted that it was not Tran’s fault.
“We also apologize to her for putting her in that position,” he wrote.
Reality star accused of raping child
BATON ROUGE, La.
The Discovery Channel has canceled reality-TV star Will Hayden’s popular “Sons of Guns” show after his arrest on an aggravated-rape charge.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said Hayden was arrested Tuesday on a charge accusing him of raping a child. His bond was set at $250,000. He already was facing charges of child molestation and aggravated crime against nature stemming from his Aug. 9 arrest.
Discovery Channel spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg said in an emailed statement Wednesday that production of the show was halted and the series canceled due to “the serious and horrific nature of the charges” against Hayden.
Associated Press