"BET Uncut," the compilation of racy videos that drew protests while it kept some rap fans awake late at night, has been cut. The show's last episode after five years aired July 7, BET said.
"BET Uncut" aired at 3 a.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, showing videos considered too risque to show at other times. But it upset some viewers who said many of them were degrading to women. The clips regularly showed obscured nudity and women gyrating wildly with sexual overtones. One video by Nelly featured the rapper swiping a credit card up a woman's backside.
Protests about the content had nothing to do with its cancellation, said BET spokesman Michael Lewellen. It had angered some people since its inception, but also had a loyal fan base and some are petitioning to see the series restored, he said.
BET will instead fill the time slot with reruns of programs on the air earlier or syndicated sitcoms. Those tend to be a lot cheaper instead of original programming for networks.
"I don't necessarily think the cost factored in so much as it was a desire by the network to do something different in that time period," Lewellen said.