The BET Awards issued an apology to Usher for an ‘audio malfunction’ that resulted in muted sections of his speech.

Despite the BET Awards running smoothly on Sunday night (June 30), there was a minor issue during the broadcast. While accepting the network’s lifetime achievement award, Usher delivered a passionate 12-minute speech, but parts of it were inaudible to viewers at home.

On Monday (July 1), BET issued an apology to the eight-time Grammy winner, explaining that technical issues led to interruptions during his speech. A spokesperson for the company informed Billboard via statement, “Due to an audio malfunction during the LIVE telecast, portions of his speech were inadvertently muted.”

“Celebrating global icon Usher on our stage with a star-studded tribute and hearing his heartfelt speech as he accepted his award was an honor,” the representative added. They noted that the uninterrupted speech is now accessible on BET platforms. “We extend our sincere apologies to Usher. We couldn’t be more grateful for his participation in Culture’s Biggest Night.”

Approximately four minutes of Usher’s acceptance speech were blocked out during the broadcast due to technical difficulties. The issues occurred just after he thanked Terry Lewis, Babyface, L.A. Reid, and Jimmy Jam, acknowledging them as influential figures in his career. The word “f–k” was censored when he referred to challenging times, but a subsequent “s–t” was not censored, leading to intermittent sound dropout for the next four minutes. Some viewers speculated about the content of his speech, but a  reporter at the awards show confirmed that Usher did not use explicit language or discuss controversial topics.